PORTLAND — With postseason play around the corner, Lapel picked up an important win on Friday night.
On the road at Jay County, the Bulldogs ended a three-game skid with a 14-12 win against the Patriots.
The Bulldogs got on the board first with an opening-drive 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Devin Craig for a 7-0 lead.
From there, the offenses stalled.
The seven points were the only scored until midway through the third quarter when the Patriots broke into the end zone.
A.J. Meyers ran in from 3 yards out, but a missed point after attempt kept the Bulldogs ahead 7-6.
A recovered Jay County fumble by Lapel inside the Patriots 10-yard line set up Craig for a touchdown strike to Jaxon Cripe to push the lead to 14-6 with three minutes left to play.
A few plays later, Jay County’s Sean Bailey broke free for a 59-yard touchdown run, but the Bulldogs denied the two-point try to hold onto a 14-12 lead.
After a quick punt back to the Patriots on the next possession, an interception by the Lapel defense sealed the close win.
Craig threw for 127 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and rushed for one score.
Jack Miller and Jayden Lindsey led the rushing attack going for 43 and 39 yards, respectively.
Cripe caught five passes for 75 yards and a touchdown to lead all receivers.
Defensively, Isaiah Priest and Reed Hamilton each had a pair of interceptions, and Isaiah Young recovered two Jay County fumbles.
Lapel closes out the regular season tomorrow at 7 p.m. on the road at Eastern Hancock.
The Royals and Bulldogs met twice last year, with Lapel winning the regular season finale 36-31, but falling in the sectional opener 45-43.
This season, the meeting with the Royals will serve as a final warm-up before the Bulldogs opening sectional game against Northeastern.
The Royals (5-3) are a high-powered offensive team, averaging 37.5 points per game and are coming off a 41-7 win versus Shenandoah.
Offensively, they are led by junior quarterback Elijah Edon and junior running back Mark Kube.
Edon has thrown for 1,773 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions so far this season, and has added 341 yards and four scores with his legs.
Kube, who missed three games with an injury, returned two weeks ago in a 52-14 win against Monroe Central and picked up right where he left off.
Since returning, he ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns against Monroe Central and last week, rushed for 121 yards and four scores against the Raiders. On the season he has carried the ball 89 times for 613 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Junior Evan Wheeler filled in for Kube while he was injured and has accumulated 512 yards and eight touchdowns on the year.
Eli Manship leads the receivers with 541 yards and three touchdowns.