Lexington’s Minutemen march over Trenton in District 8 semifinals, 56-13

The Lexington Minutemen, playing on their home turf at Gil Rector Stadium, showed a consistent, punishing rushing attack out of its wing-T offense, routing the visiting Trenton Bulldogs on Friday night, 56-13 to improve to 10-1 on the season, and move into the Class 2, District 8 championship game on Friday, November 4th against Lawson.

Trenton was hopeful of springing a road upset, but those dreams were dashed quickly, as Lexington’s Alvaro Porras ran for touchdowns of 62, 60, and 12 yards on his first three rushes of the game, leading the Minutemen to a 21-0 advantage seven seconds into the second quarter.

Down 21-0, things got no better for THS for the remainder of the half, as Warren Shepherd rushed for touchdowns of 5 yards and 36 yards, giving Lexington a 35-0 lead at the half.

LHS kept the foot on the accelerator in the third quarter, with Porras adding his fourth touchdown of the night on a 76 yard keeper through the heart of the Trenton defense, followed by a 41 yard scoring run by Shepherd.  Trenton, late in the third quarter, moved the football into the red zone, but a fumble created by Lexington defensive line penetration was returned 90 yards for a touchdown, leaving the #1 seeded Minutemen up 56-0.

Playing for pride by the fourth quarter, Trenton showed the never-say-die spirit that the 2016 Bulldog team will be well-remembered for, as Lathan Croy scored on a 1 yard sneak with 7:49 to go (Mason Owen hit the extra point), while senior Austin Burkeybile, late in the game, scored on a 59 yard jaunt.  The extra point failed, making the final 56-13.

Burkeybile, in his final game as a Trenton Bulldog, rushed 23 times for 176 yards.  Twelve Trenton players (seniors) played their final games in the Bulldogs “Black and Gold”.  Trenton, in its first season as a member of the Grand River Conference, finished 7-4, with a co-championship in the GRC 11 (shared with Maysville), the program’s first conference championship since 1984.

Lexington, the runner-up in the Missouri River Valley Conference (to Richmond), improves to 10-1 on the season, with two victories (Week 2 at C.F. Russell Stadium) against the Trenton Bulldogs.

Lexington will host the Lawson Cardinals in the Class 2, District 8 championship game on Friday night at 7 o’clock.  The #2 seed Cardinals stamped their ticket to the title game with a 61-31 win over Bishop LeBlond.