By Bryce Matson
The Washington Court House Blue Lions came up 4 points short Friday night in a 51-47 loss to the London Red Raiders.
London led after the first quarter 7-0 on a 50 yard run by Junior running back J.K. Price. Price then got the scoring started in the second quarter with 31 yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.
Then the two teams would exchange touchdowns as Washington Junior quarterback Dillon Steward found the end zone from seven yards out to cut the lead in half 14-7. Twenty seconds later Price went 74 yards in one play to make 20-17 as the pat was missed. Two plays later Steward found wide receiver Eli Ruth for a 72 yard touchdown pass, the pat was good and Court House trailed 20-14. With 44 seconds remaining in the first half, Dillon Steward took the ball 69 yards to the house to tie the score at 20, the pat hit the upright, no good. Washington left 14 seconds on the clock and it was enough as London QB Josh Handley found Jimmy Dulin in the end zone as the Red Raiders took a 27-20 lead into the locker room.
The second half started with Washington Court House fumbling the opening kick off and London was able to capitalize with a field goal to make it 30-20. The Blue Lions fought their way back but just couldn't get any closer than 3 points. Each time the Blue Lions would score, London would have an answer.
It came down to the last minutes of the game, as Jacob Rice caught a touchdown with 2:16 left to go in the game to cut it to 51-47 but London ran the clock to take home the victory.
A game that had over 1,100 total yards and nearly 100 points, it came down to three Blue Lion turnovers.
Washington was led by Dillon Steward who had 19 rushes for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns Steward was 10-25 for 260 yards through the air with 4 touchdowns. Jacob Rice had 19 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown he also caught a touchdown. Eli Ruth had 3 catches for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Blue Lions (2-1) had 588 total yards
London was led by Junior running back J.K. Price who had an incredible evening. he had 28 rushes for 446 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns. London (3-0) finished the night with 589 total yards.
The Blue Lions travel to Delaware Hayes (1-2) September 15th while London hosts Columbus Academy (3-0).