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Sports

Timber Creek Blasts Past Kingsway

The Chargers overcome 7-0 deficit by scoring 25 unanswered points and by getting 125 yards on the ground from Khalil Pierce.

WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP—The overcame a rough first quarter by scoring 25 unanswered points in the final three quarters to defeat the Kingsway Dragons on the road 25-7.

The game was played in rainy conditions that made it difficult for either team to move the ball through the air. Both teams resorted to the ground game early and often and in the first quarter, it was Kingsway controlling  the flow of the game.

The Dragons got solid field position on their second drive of the game, starting on the Chargers' 47. They went on a seven-play drive that lasted just over three minutes. The drive ended when quarterback Tyler Barnholt found running back Ray Lawry on a screen pass. Lawry dodged a pair of tacklers to dance into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown. to give Kingsway an early 7-0 lead.

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“Defensively, we came out and they really hit us in the mouth,” said Timber Creek head coach Rob Hinson. “This is probably one of the biggest teams around. What you have to do is take your shot. They're humongous, and if you let them, they'll eat up the clock.”

The Chargers were also out of rhythm offensively in the first quarter. The Dragons put heavy of pressure on quarterback Calvin Lowe early, blitzing six and seven men at times. Defensive end Chris Lail was particularly impressive early, beating Timber Creek tackle Tamell Irving numerous times around the end. Lail registered two sacks in the opening quarter alone.

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The Chargers adjusted for the Dragons blitz packages and it showed in the second half. Timber Creek's run offense, which was virtually non-existent early, began to move the ball and Kingsway only got to Lowe once more the rest of the night.

“Those guys started to pick it up,” said Hinson. “They were, I don't want to say going through the motions, but they weren't really fired up and just picking up on what they were doing. Once they got going and kind of saw what they were doing, they were much more aggressive.”

“We started thinking about compensating for each other's slack,” said tackle Greg Webb. “We have to make sure that the guards can pick up on the linebackers if they're blitzing or not. So they give a little help and take a little more pressure off the tackle's job. Then we can hold it up a little better for Calvin.”

Once the offense got in sync, the Chargers took command of the game. Running back Khalil Pierce, who finished the game with 125 yards rushing on 11 carries, had an 8-yard score midway through the second quarter to tie the game at seven.

Kingsway fumbled a lateral with about a minute to go that was recovered by Pierce. Lowe drove his team down the field with 1:09 on the clock and would find Dajuan Drennon for a 29-yard touchdown that gave Timber Creek a 13-7 lead at halftime and took the air out of the crowd at Kingsway.

With the rain pouring down in the second half, Kingsway struggled throwing the ball. Barnholt completed just two second half passes and the ball seemed to slip out of his hand numerous times. Kingway's backs also seemed to be slipping all over the wet grass. As a result, the Dragons couldn't get into the red zone in the second half.

The slippery field didn't hurt Pierce however, who had two spectacular second-half runs. The first was a sweep that Pierce took outside to the left and outran the secondary to a 31-yard touchdown. The second was 49-yard run where Pierce ran outside to the right and then cut back to the middle to avoid a group of Dragon defenders.

“It's really just up to the offensive line at first,” said Pierce. “Once I get into the open field, I just do what I do.”

Eric Church added the Chargers' final score three plays after Pierce's 49-yard dash on a 20-yard touchdown run.

Timber Creek will have time to rest up on during their bye next week. It will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 14 when it hosts Woodrow Wilson.  

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