By MARTY WARREN
Contributing Writer

LEXINGTON — There is a reason Lexington Christian running back Xavier Brown is a candidate of Kentucky’s Mr. Football honor for the top-ranked Eagles.

Brown, who has committed to Virginia, single handedly put his team on his back in the third quarter, and lifted Lexington Christian to a 56-14 win over Danville here Friday night.

The Eagles, now 9-0 and the top-ranked Class AA team in the state, simply turned it up a notch after spotting Danville a quick 7-0 lead by scoring the next 56 points and setting the running clock in motion thanks in part to three long touchdown runs by Brown during the third quarter.

Brown carried the ball six times for 182 yards and four scores – three rushing and one receiving. He scored on runs of 73, 52 and 39 yards in an impressive third quarter blitz and turned a 28-7 halftime lead into a 49-7 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

“That team has the highest RPI of any team in any class and Brown just took over in the third quarter,” Danville coach Mark Peach said. “I was proud of the way we competed in the first half. It could have been 14-14 or 21-21 easily if the ball bounces our way. Corydon had a chance for a pick six but mistimed his jump and then we couldn’t handle a fumble on a scoop and score opportunity that could have changed the game. But football is a funny game and breaks don’t always go your way.”

Danville scored on just its third play of the game when senior quarterback Brady Morse found Crawford, who came back to grab a pass in between two defenders for a 50-yard touchdown catch. Keegyn Wilcher tacked on the PAT to give the Admirals a 7-0 just one minute, 36 seconds into the game.

Danville’s Dominique Ford, Cwintin Anderson and Xzavion Brown all recovered fumbles during the first quarter, but Danville’s offense could never muster any offense.

“I was disappointed in our offense tonight,” Peach said. “We just didn’t get much going all night long. I’ll just have to go back and look at it. Our defense, however, has played well all year and did again tonight, especially in the first half. We’re so nicked up right now and we just got worn down in the second half.”

The Admirals lost Keelan Story (ankle), Caleb Burns (back) and K,J, Stanfield (leg) in the second half.

LCA knotted the score at 7-7 following a Jeremiah Riffle eight yard run to close the first period,
Riffle would score on a six yard run early in the second frame, then LCA would score twice late in the half to take a 28-7 advantage at the half.

Mason Moore, who had five catches for 63 yards, was on the receiving end of a 34 yard pass from Drew Nieves, then Nieves found Brown open for a 37 yard score when he tip-toed down the sideline with 40 seconds to play for a 28-7 lead. Nieves finished 12 of 15 for 156 yards and two scores.

Brown just took over the game in the third quarter. He touched the ball three times and scored each time to set up the running clock with 7:55 to play in the third quarter.

Danville’s final score came on a 76 yard pass from Morse to Crawford,

“I told the guys after the game I would be disappointed but we still have more football to play,” the Danville coach said. “It’s hard to believe the season is almost over but we still have a game against Whitley County left at home and a winnable playoff game. We’ll take it from there.”

At Lexington
Danville 7 0 0 7 – 14
Lex. Christian 7 21 28 9 – 56

First Quarter
D – Corydon Crawford 50 pass from Brady Morse (Keegyn Wilcher kick), 10:24.
LCA – Jeremiah Riffle 8 run (Andrew Dobbs kick), 3:05.
Second Quarter
LCA – Riffle 6 run (Dobbs kick), 8:51.
LCA – Mason Moore 34 pass from Drew Nieves (Dobbs kick), 3:11.
LCA – Xavier Brown 37 pass from Nieves (Dobbs kick), :46.
Third Quarter
LCA – Brown 73 run (Dobbs kick), 11:40.
LCA – Brown 52 run (Dobbs kick), 10:22.
LCA – Brown 39 run (Dobbs kick), 7:55.
LCA – Riffle 15 run (Dobbs kick), :12.
Fourth Quarter
D – Crawford 76 pass from Morse (Wilcher kick), 7:37.

RUSHING – Danville, Caleb Burns 6-4, Demauriah Brown 2-6, Morse 6-(minus 9), Xzavion Brown 2-1, Corydon Crawford 2-1. LCA, Xavier Brown 6-182, Jeremiah Riffle 8-46, Mason Moore 1-4, Drew Nieves 3-7, Josh Tejerina 1-2, Jay Emerson 7-76, Evan Thompson 3-12, Evan Nieves 1-(minus 2),Saxton Howard 1-38.
PASSING – Danville, Morse 9-18-2-200. D. Nieves 12-15-00-156.
RECEIVING – Danville, Crawford 2-126, Keelan Story 1-3, KJ Stanfield 2-16, D. Brown 2-40, Burns 1-5, Jalen Dunn 1-10. LCA, Moore 5-63, Brown 5-87, Elijah Hammond 1-(minus 2), Jeffrey Selby 1-8.