Wheeler's kick edges Kennedy

Cody Wheeler set up Ben McMillin's TD, then won the game for Linesville.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SHARON -- When Linesville and Kennedy Catholic met in blustery Butala Stadium Saturday afternoon, it was a battle for survival.
With the teams deadlocked in second place in regional play with 4-1 records, the winner would secure a berth in the District 10 playoffs, while the loser would be eliminated.
In a contest that was decided by Cody Wheeler's conversion attempt that barely floated over the crossbar, Linesville edged Kennedy Catholic, 7-6.
"We expected it to be a hard-fought game, and at this point of the season with a playoff berth at stake, that is exactly what it turned out to be," said Kennedy Catholic coach Mike Donato.
"I thought we played well, but we are still very young and still growing as a football team. Even though we lost, hopefully we took another step forward. We knew it wasn't going to be an overnight process, but as long as we keep moving ahead, that is a good sign."
Defenses deliver
Both defenses rose to the occasion in the first 20 minutes of the game. Kennedy stopped Linesville on the 15-yard line on the Lions' initial possession of the game, before Linesville turned Kennedy away from the end zone early in the second period, after the Golden Eagles had driven from their own 4 to the Linesville 12.
Following a Linesville punt, Kennedy (5-2, 4-2) took over in excellent field position at the Lions 47.
Eight plays later, John Rossi answered the call with a 4-yard touchdown run. During the 47-yard march, Kennedy tailback Lee Plotts, who finished with 120 yards on 27 carries, carried six times for 21 yards, 107 of which came in the first half.
"He [Plotts] was a little banged up [in the second half] and he was a hurting a little coming in," said Donato. "It was just one of those things you have to deal with."
Kicking into a stiff wind, Mike Muckian's point after attempt was blown wide left.
"We work on that in practice and those are the things that happen," said Donato of the PAT attempt. "We kicked into the wind last night in practice and didn't miss any. It is just one of those things."
Wasting no time at all, Linesville (6-1, 5-1) put together its game-winning drive on their first possession of the second half after taking over at midfield. In the drive, the Lions used a pair of big plays to get into the end zone with Ben McMillin scoring on a 3-yard run five minutes into the third period.
Turning in the big plays were Tyler Niederriter with a 17-yard run before Wheeler set up McMillen's TD jaunt by scampering 28 yards to give the Lions a first-and-goal.
Following the McMillin score, it was Wheeler who lofted a kick that barely made it over the crossbar for the game-winner.
"We just didn't take advantage of the opportunities that were given to us," said Donato. "I think that was it in a nutshell. As for the big plays, we just had a couple of guys who took it upon themselves to say to themselves that they weren't going to do this or do that rather than read their keys. If you take care of the little things which we didn't, the big things will take care of themselves."