Ransom’s kickoff return ;br; sparks rally against Medford

Published 12:00 am Friday, September 3, 1999

The revamped Lyle-Pacelli offense led by senior fullback Josh Kunze made its debut Thursday night against Medford in Lyle.

Friday, September 03, 1999

The revamped Lyle-Pacelli offense led by senior fullback Josh Kunze made its debut Thursday night against Medford in Lyle.

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The new-look squad that had to replace nine seniors, started slowly, playing on a 100-yard field for the first time. The home team trailed 20-0 midway through the third quarter, but responded with 18 unanswered points of its own and had a chance to tie the game up. But the Lyle-Pacelli squad was ultimately unable to convert a two-point conversion, falling 20-18.

"I think we got outplayed at the end of second quarter and that had some carryover," Lyle-Pacelli head coach Mark Buntje said. "I was happy with the way we played after the third quarter. But we still need to be in better shape."

With only 24 players on the roster to begin with and four unable to play for various reasons, several Lyle-Pacelli players never left the field to rest.

"I was proud of the effort our guys showed at the end," Buntje said.

Neither team was able to move the ball in the first quarter, playing to a scoreless tie.

Lyle-Pacelli made the most of its first possession to start the second quarter, driving to the Medford 24 yard-line. Kunze, who also handles kicking duties, hit the crossbar, falling short for the game’s only field-goal attempt.

Medford senior tailback Blaine Kuhlman scored the only touchdown of the first half with a 1:07 remaining. Kuhlman, who led all rushers with 127 yards on 28 carries, scored from 10-yards out for his first of two touchdowns on the night.

Medford’s extra-point attempt didn’t get more than a foot off the ground, leaving the score 6-0 at halftime.

After a sluggish second quarter, things went from bad to worse for Lyle-Pacelli when Kuhlman took the kickoff 79 yards down the left side of the field for a touchdown.

Kuhlman also converted the two-point conversion from seven-yards out, making it 14-0.

Medford’s final touchdown came on a 35-yard lob from Nick Degner to tight end James Judd.

Medford’s extra-point attempt was replay of the first one.

Degner finished the night 3 of 6 passing for 75 yards and a touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff, junior Cory Ransom took the ball straight up the middle to put Lyle-Pacelli on the board. Andy Nelson threw the final block for Ransom, who only had to shake one tackler.

Lyle-Pacelli’s two-point conversion attempt failed.

With a momentum shift, Lyle-Pacelli’s defense tightened up, forcing a fumble and later forced the Tigers to punt, which was partially blocked by Brian Helle.

Lyle-Pacelli quarterback Danny Greibrok, who was 5 of 14 passing for 57 yards, went in from one-yard out to make it 20-12 with 3:00 on the clock. The two-point conversion attempt failed.

On Medford’s next possession, Lyle-Pacelli forced the Tigers to punt again.

With 1:19 left, Lyle-Pacelli took over at the Medford 18-yard line after the ball sailed through the hands of Medford’s punter.

While falling stumbling backwards, Greibrok hit senior Jason Helgeson in the left side of the endzone for a 18-yard touchdown.

Lyle-Pacelli had one last opportunity to the game up with a two-point conversion, but Greibrok’s pass went incomplete.

Buntje said he went for two points after the late touchdowns because Kunze’s condition.

"Kunze was exhausted." he said. "We showed our inexperience on the extra-point attempts."

Medford, which won only one game last year, finished with 256 yards on offense, while Lyle-Pacelli had 147 yards. Chris Maly was the leading rusher for Lyle-Pacelli with 29 yards on nine carries and Kunze had the team’s longest play from scrimmage, a 33-yard catch in the first half.

On defense, Kunze had eight solo tackles and a sack. Jared Koopal led the home squad with nine solo tackles. Koopal also had an interception that was called back because of pass-interference penalty. Erik Perhson had five solo tackles and a fumble recovery.

Lyle-Pacelli will play again next Friday at St. Clair.