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11-16-2003, 01:25 AM
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Merkel Mania hits Greenwood
By Bret Bloomquist / Special to the Reporter-News
November 15, 2003
Merkel’s Riley Lambert doesn’t really look like a quarterback. He’s 5-foot-11, he weighs 175 pounds, and in many programs, he’d be a tailback.
He certainly ran like one Saturday night, leading his team to a 26-22 victory over Midland Greenwood.
Lambert is shifty and quick, and when he gets into the secondary — and that happened an awful lot in Saturday’s bi-district game with Greenwood — he’s hard to find, much less tackle.
Greenwood didn’t have much success at it in the first half, as Lambert rushed for 135 yards in the first two quarters to stake his team to a 19-7 lead.
But when things turned sour for his Badgers, when Greenwood checked the Merkel rushing game and powered out to a 22-19 lead, when Merkel absolutely looked sunk, Lambert looked like a quarterback.
His perfectly thrown 28-yard strike to Chris Cobb with 8:04 remaining were the final points of the game. The touchdown came on the play after a Greenwood fumble when the Rangers running game had taken over. Lambert finished 5-of-6 passing for 163 yards, all to Cobb, and 143 rushing yards. (He deliberately lost 17 yards on his last two carries as he scrambled to run out the clock.)
The Badgers made two more defensive stops to win it, and Greenwood will spend a bitter off-season with a big what-if.
The game had three huge momentum swings, but the definitive one was the final one. A Merkel defense that was steamrolled on Greenwood’s first two possessions of the second half forced and recovered a fumble on the Ranger 28 after a second-and-4 run. The ensuing touchdown gave Merkel the lead, and the Wilber injury prevented a comeback.
Another key sequence showcased Lambert at his best and swung the game came in the final seconds of the first half.
After a shaky start and a quick two-touchdown hole, Greenwood got within 13-7 before the stunning turn left them trailing 19-7 at intermission.
Stuck deep in its own end of the field, Merkel appeared to be content to take a six-point lead to the locker room when Lambert broke loose on a 27-yard run that set them up at their own 46. After a loss of a yard on a run, the Badgers called timeout with 31 seconds to play.
Merkel lined up in a spread offense and ran the zone read play the University of Texas has run so much this year. Lambert kept the ball and carried 43 yards to the 13. A short pass moved the ball to the 7 and stopped the clock with seven seconds left, and Merkel lined up to kick a field goal. It was a fake, as Lambert, who lined up as a blocking end, sprinted into the backfield and took a pitch.
He just did dive across the pylon as Greenwood pasted him hard and the clocked rolled to 0:00. He was shaken up on the play, but returned in the second half.
Lambert needed four plays to spark his team, as a 55-yard run on the opening possession moved the Badgers to the Ranger 5, where he carried it in on the next play.
Two possessions later, on the play after a fourth-down Badger stop, he found Cobb on a 73-yard touchdown pass past a badly fooled Ranger secondary that sold out on stopping a run.
Merkel 13 6 0 7—26
Greenwood 0 7 15 0—22
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
Merkel — 10:08 remaining, Riley Lambert 5 run (Chris Cobb kick)
Merkel — 2:04, Cobb 73 pass from Lambert (Cobb kick)
Second quarter
Greenwood — 11:32, Adam Banda 13 pass from Dawson Wilber (Eric Skaggs kick)
Merkel — 0:00, Lambert 7 run (kick failed)
Third quarter
Greenwood — 5:44, Wilber 4 run (Skaggs kick)
Greenwood — 1:06, Jeremy Audas 6 run (Jimmy Brooks pass from Bronson Valencia)
Fourth quarter
Merkel — 8:04, Cobb 28 pass from Lambert (Cobb kick)
Merkel Greenwood
First downs 17 16
Rushing Yards 38-226 16-166
Passing Yards 163 86
Total yards 389 252
Comp-Alt-Int 5-6-0 7-10-0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Punts-avg. 3-30.1 3-40
Penalties-yards 8-64 8-60
Merkel Mania hits Greenwood
By Bret Bloomquist / Special to the Reporter-News
November 15, 2003
Merkel’s Riley Lambert doesn’t really look like a quarterback. He’s 5-foot-11, he weighs 175 pounds, and in many programs, he’d be a tailback.
He certainly ran like one Saturday night, leading his team to a 26-22 victory over Midland Greenwood.
Lambert is shifty and quick, and when he gets into the secondary — and that happened an awful lot in Saturday’s bi-district game with Greenwood — he’s hard to find, much less tackle.
Greenwood didn’t have much success at it in the first half, as Lambert rushed for 135 yards in the first two quarters to stake his team to a 19-7 lead.
But when things turned sour for his Badgers, when Greenwood checked the Merkel rushing game and powered out to a 22-19 lead, when Merkel absolutely looked sunk, Lambert looked like a quarterback.
His perfectly thrown 28-yard strike to Chris Cobb with 8:04 remaining were the final points of the game. The touchdown came on the play after a Greenwood fumble when the Rangers running game had taken over. Lambert finished 5-of-6 passing for 163 yards, all to Cobb, and 143 rushing yards. (He deliberately lost 17 yards on his last two carries as he scrambled to run out the clock.)
The Badgers made two more defensive stops to win it, and Greenwood will spend a bitter off-season with a big what-if.
The game had three huge momentum swings, but the definitive one was the final one. A Merkel defense that was steamrolled on Greenwood’s first two possessions of the second half forced and recovered a fumble on the Ranger 28 after a second-and-4 run. The ensuing touchdown gave Merkel the lead, and the Wilber injury prevented a comeback.
Another key sequence showcased Lambert at his best and swung the game came in the final seconds of the first half.
After a shaky start and a quick two-touchdown hole, Greenwood got within 13-7 before the stunning turn left them trailing 19-7 at intermission.
Stuck deep in its own end of the field, Merkel appeared to be content to take a six-point lead to the locker room when Lambert broke loose on a 27-yard run that set them up at their own 46. After a loss of a yard on a run, the Badgers called timeout with 31 seconds to play.
Merkel lined up in a spread offense and ran the zone read play the University of Texas has run so much this year. Lambert kept the ball and carried 43 yards to the 13. A short pass moved the ball to the 7 and stopped the clock with seven seconds left, and Merkel lined up to kick a field goal. It was a fake, as Lambert, who lined up as a blocking end, sprinted into the backfield and took a pitch.
He just did dive across the pylon as Greenwood pasted him hard and the clocked rolled to 0:00. He was shaken up on the play, but returned in the second half.
Lambert needed four plays to spark his team, as a 55-yard run on the opening possession moved the Badgers to the Ranger 5, where he carried it in on the next play.
Two possessions later, on the play after a fourth-down Badger stop, he found Cobb on a 73-yard touchdown pass past a badly fooled Ranger secondary that sold out on stopping a run.
Merkel 13 6 0 7—26
Greenwood 0 7 15 0—22
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
Merkel — 10:08 remaining, Riley Lambert 5 run (Chris Cobb kick)
Merkel — 2:04, Cobb 73 pass from Lambert (Cobb kick)
Second quarter
Greenwood — 11:32, Adam Banda 13 pass from Dawson Wilber (Eric Skaggs kick)
Merkel — 0:00, Lambert 7 run (kick failed)
Third quarter
Greenwood — 5:44, Wilber 4 run (Skaggs kick)
Greenwood — 1:06, Jeremy Audas 6 run (Jimmy Brooks pass from Bronson Valencia)
Fourth quarter
Merkel — 8:04, Cobb 28 pass from Lambert (Cobb kick)
Merkel Greenwood
First downs 17 16
Rushing Yards 38-226 16-166
Passing Yards 163 86
Total yards 389 252
Comp-Alt-Int 5-6-0 7-10-0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Punts-avg. 3-30.1 3-40
Penalties-yards 8-64 8-60