LEXINGTON HORSEMEN MOVE INTO TIE FOR FIRST PLACE IN EAST WITH WIN AT EVANSVILLE

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -  Lexington’s offense returned to life and the Horsemen moved into a tie for first place in the United Indoor Football Eastern Conference Saturday with a 56-31 win against Evansville in Roberts Stadium.

The Horsemen (5-3), who struggled offensively for most of their game last week against Rock River before making a late-game comeback, broke out to a 29-9 advantage at halftime and cruised to their second victory against the BlueCats (2-6) this season.

“I was happy with our play tonight,” Horsemen head coach Mike Zuckerman said. “Defensively, I thought we played well the whole game, but overall, we have to play more consistent. When you go against the top teams in the league, you can’t play hot and cold, you have to play consistently for an entire game. We’re just trying to get where we play a complete game from start to finish.”

Lexington moved into a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference with Rock River as the Raptors pulled off a 55-28 victory against River City in Rockford, Ill., on Saturday night. The Raptors and Horsemen each have a 5-3 record, while the River City Rage dropped to 5-4.

“I look at the records of everybody and we’re all right there in a big bunch,” Zuckerman said. “We’re in a situation right now where we control our own destiny. We still hold everything in our hands and, as long as that happens, anything can happen. We just have to keep playing strong every week and play consistently.”

Kicker Collin Barber, who returned last week from an injury that had sidelined him since Lexington faced Evansville on April 7 in Rupp Arena, posted a strong performance by connecting on 7-of-8 point-after-touchdown attempts.

“Collin hadn’t kicked in forever and last week was like starting all over again,” Zuckerman said. “Going between those goalposts, he started the season just gaining confidence with each game and then he got hurt. But he’s starting to regain his confidence and did well tonight.”

Lexington quarterback Kewan Dewberry, who entered the game with the league’s best quarterback rating, threw four touchdown passes. Running back Rayshawn Askew tallied three touchdowns to give him a team-leading 16 scores on the season.

The Horsemen did not have any difficulty in playing in a non-traditional facility as Roberts Stadium features a 40-yard field instead of the UIF’s conventional 50-yard gridiron.

“This is a very tough place to play because the field dimensions are smaller than what you are usually used to,” Zuckerman said. “You definitely have to make some adjustments.”

The Horsemen jumped on the scoreboard just 1:36 into the game as Dewberry found Askew from 22 yards out to cap a three-play, 35-yard drive that gave Lexington an early 7-0 advantage. Evansville then attempted a field goal on its first drive that was missed and returned by the Horsemen’s William Mulder. Backed up into a fourth-down situation, Dewberry tossed an 8-yard pass to wide receiver Chad Spencer that gave the Horsemen a 14-0 lead with 7:05 remaining in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Lexington’s Jonathan Messick provided great coverage to stifle Evansville’s Odest Shannon and score on a rouge to extend Lexington’s lead to 15-0. The BlueCats finally got on the board as kicker Daniel Woods nailed a 24-yard field goal with 3:13 left in the first quarter to end the opening period with the Horsemen leading 15-3.

Early in the second quarter, Mulder picked off an Evansville pass with 12:23 remaining in the fourth quarter and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to put the Horsemen ahead 29-3. The BlueCats’ Ray Kirkley ran the ball in from 3 yards out to narrow Lexington’s advantage to 29-9 on the way to the halftime locker room.

The teams went scoreless for much of the third quarter until Askew found the end-zone from 4 yards out with 4:44 left in the third period to give the Horsemen a 35-9 advantage. The BlueCats responded as Kirkley executed a bit of trickery in completing an 8-yard pass to the squad’s top receiver Levron Williams for a touchdown that made the score 35-15 in favor of Lexington. Near the close of the third quarter, Harry Lewis caught a 24-yard pass from Dewberry to give the Horsemen a 42-15 lead heading into the final period of play.

Josh Williams recovered an Evansville fumble 7 yards for a touchdown to put Lexington in front 49-15 with 13:08 remaining in the game. Kirkley then responded for Evansville with a 2-yard run for his second score of the night with 11:46 left in the game to narrow the Horsemen’s margin to 49-23.

Askew then recorded a 5-yard run for touchdown with 9:14 remaining in the game to put Lexington ahead 55-23. Kirkley scored his third touchdown of the night – a 1-yard run with 24 seconds left – to round out the scoring.

Lexington stays on the road next week when it travels to Sioux City, Iowa, to take on the Sioux City Bandits. Kick-off in the Tyson Events Center is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. EDT. The game will be carried live on 101.5 FM The Planet and WVLK 590 AM with Gary Ball and Randy Wilson.

Complete results and a recap of that game will be available at www.lexingtonhorsemen.com.

SCORE BY PERIODS                          1            2            3            4            -             F

Lexington Horsemen                                15          7            13          14          -             56

Evansville BlueCats                                  3            6            6            16          -             31

SCORING SUMMARY

LEX – Askew 22 pass from Dewberry (Barber kick) … 13:24 1st qtr., LEX 7-0

LEX – Spencer 8 pass from Dewberry (Barber kick) … 7:05 1st qtr., LEX 14-0

LEX – Messick rouge … 7:05 1st qtr., LEX 15-0

EVA – Woods 24 FG … 3:13 1st qtr., LEX 15-3

LEX – Rouanzoin 4 pass from Dewberry (Barber kick) … 13:48 2nd qtr., LEX 22-3

LEX – Mulder 22 INT return … (Barber kick)  12:23 2nd qtr., LEX 29-3

EVA – Kirkley 3 run (Woods kick failed) … 9:45 2nd qtr., LEX 29-9

LEX – Askew 4 run (Barber kick blocked) … 4:44 3rd qtr., LEX 35-9

EVA – Williams 8 pass from Kirkley (Woods kick failed) … 2:12 3rd qtr., LEX 35-15

LEX – Lewis 24 pass from Dewberry (Barber kick) … 0:57 3rd qtr., LEX 42-15

LEX – J. Williams 7 fumble recovery (Barber kick) … 13:08 4th qtr., LEX 49-15

EVA – Kirkley 2 run (Dearmon rush) …11:46 4th qtr., LEX 49-23

LEX – Askew 5 run (Barber kick) … 9:14 4th qtr., LEX 56-23

EVA – Kirkley 1 run (Jennings pass from Dearmon) … 0:24 4th qtr., LEX 56-31

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For more information, contact:

Gary Ball (gary@lexingtonhorsemen.com) or Sean Cartell (sean@lexingtonhorsemen.com) at (859) 422-PASS