Lexington loses its intensity in second half

Horsemen take 31-21 lead, then Tupelo QB takes control
FIREANTS 67, HORSEMEN 56

Mistakes. Turnovers. Just plain tired, mentally and physically, after three tough games in a row.  

In short, those were the reasons the Lexington Horsemen were defeated 67-56 by the Tupelo FireAnts in a National Indoor Football League game last night at Rupp Arena.

It was a tale of two games, really.

In the first half, with quarterback Dusty Bonner completing 15 of 22 passes, Lexington scored four touchdowns and a field goal in seven possessions to lead at halftime 31-21.

The Horsemen (3-2) gave the crowd of 5,519 good reason to believe they could defeat Tupelo (5-1). The FireAnts entered the game leading the NIFL in scoring with 59.6 points a game.

But the second half was another game, another story.

Tupelo quarterback Will Hall bedeviled the Horsemen with his constant run-pass threat -- sometimes keeping, sometimes pitching to another runner, and often connecting on shovel passes.

He was seldom stopped. He completed 16 of 24 passes (67 percent) for 191 yards and five touchdowns, and ran 12 times for 76 yards (6.1 yards a carry) and two touchdowns.

In many respects, the game was a statistical dead heat, except for Tupelo's outrushing of Lexington 117 yards to 43.

But Hall was key to the 46 points the FireAnts scored in the second half in taking command.

Hall said the Horsemen "were playing two linebackers in the box to take away the run. We got our passing game going."

But there was more to it than that.

"We had a lot of breakdowns," Lexington Coach Bob Sphire said.

Horsemen defensive lineman Sylvester Peoples said: "We didn't keep our head in the game," and his fellow defensive lineman Gordon Crowe said the FireAnts "stepped up and capitalized on our mistakes when they needed to."

Sphire thought one of his team's most costly turnovers came on its first series in the second half, when Harry Lewis caught a Bonner pass but fumbled. Tupelo's Patrick Garth recovered at the Lexington 4.

Two plays later, Joe Gunn ran for a 2-yard touchdown, the extra-point kick missed, and Tupelo had cut Lexington's lead to 31-27.

A Bonner-to-Martez Johnson TD pass and Justin Hutton extra-point kick pushed Lexington back in front 38-27.

But the momentum had begun to shift to Tupelo.

In scarcely more than two minutes, Hall led his team 30 yards in four plays, the last a five-yard TD pass to David Mooneyham. The kick failed and Tupelo closed the gap to 38-33.

Hutton's 37-yard field goal increased Lexington's lead to 41-33 with 2:42 left in the third quarter.

But from here Tupelo steadily picked up more steam.

A short Lexington kickoff put Tupelo at midfield, and two runs by Hall -- one for 24 yards and the other one yard for a score -- knotted the game at 41-41 with 1:04 left in the third quarter.

Tupelo went ahead on a Hall-to-Mooneyham pass but Lexington tied the game with a Bonner-to-Chad Spencer scoring pass.

Then, with 6:45 left in the game, Tupelo began to nail down the victory.

The FireAnts' Hall hit Darryl Carter on a 27-yard touchdown pass. John Michael Marlin kicked a 19-yard field goal. Bobby Hill intercepted a Bonner pass at Tupelo's 18 and returned the ball 21 yards to the Lexington 11.

With 1:52 remaining, and Tupelo facing 4th-and-11 at the Lexington 12, Hall pitched to Chris Rainey on a 12-yard scoring run. The kick failed but Tupelo was up 64-48.

Lexington responded as Bonner threw to Spencer for a touchdown and a two-point conversion, cutting Tupelo's lead to 64-56 with 1:32 left.

Marlin's 28-yard field goal with 10 seconds left gave Tupelo its final 67-56 margin.

Dougie Allen was a bright spot for Lexington with eight catches for 62 yards and five kickoff returns for 126 yards. Spencer had eight catches, four of them touchdowns, and one of those a one-handed grab over the out-of-bounds wall.

Lexington has an open date next weekend. The Horsemen's next game will be at 7:30 p.m. May 7 against the Wichita Falls (Kan.) Thunder at Rupp Arena.