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PERU – Before the season started, La Salle-Peru senior Mason Lynch told coach Jose Medina he would deliver the Cavaliers’ first kick return touchdown in five seasons.
He did and at the most opportune time.
After United Township blocked a punt and scored two plays later to take the lead with 8.2 seconds left in the third quarter, Lynch gave the lead right back to the Cavs with an electrifying 87-yard kick return touchdown.
The Cavs rode the momentum to pull out a 31-21 victory over the Panthers in a nonconference game Friday at Howard Fellows Stadium.
“We started off good and then everyone was getting injured. They blocked a punt. Everyone’s mentality was down and then the kick return got everyone up,” Lynch said. “We scored again and shut them out. It was just exciting. It was a good game.”
Lynch caught the kickoff on the 13-yard line on the right side of the field and ran toward the middle before cutting to the left sideline and racing to the end zone with the help of blocks from Antonio Rodriguez and Caleb Burrell.
“We haven’t returned a kick in five years, and I told Medina I’m doing one this year,” Lynch said. “The first kick return of the game, one more block and I would have been gone. The one I did score on, we already saw it so many times. We knew where to go and where to block. It was awesome.”
He initially was worried he wasn’t going to be able to take it all the way.
“I thought I was going to cramp up again, so I did not think I was going to score and then I just saw an open lane,” Lynch said. “The kicker came and he almost got me, but I was too quick.”
L-P forced a three-and-out on UT’s ensuing drive, then put together an 11-play scoring drive – kept alive by a 9-yard run by Lynch on a pitch on fourth-and-2 near midfield – and capped by a leaping grab in the corner of the end zone by Maalik Madrigal on a 10-yard pass from Brendan Boudreau with 3:10 left in the game.
The Cavs sealed the win when Brett Aimone tipped a pass and Tommy Hartman hauled it in for an interception.
“[The kick return touchdown] gave us a little bit more energy,” L-P coach Jose Medina said. “Defensively, once we got that kickoff return, we came out and shut them out and we ended up getting the ball back and putting together another drive to score.
“It’s always great to open up with a win, especially at home. … We had to put guys in that weren’t used to playing but the kids stepped up. We played well in all three phases of the game and that’s a big thing. That’s a team win.”
The Cavs started the game strong with a 40-yard pass from Boudreau to Billy Mini on the first play, which started with a reverse, before taking a 3-0 lead on a 22-yard field goal from Seth Adams, who earlier in the day scored two goals in the soccer team’s 2-1 win over Kewanee.
After forcing a UT punt, the Cavs went ahead 10-0 on a 5-yard run by Peyton Ellermeyer with 2:07 left in the first quarter.
UT responded quickly with a 62-yard TD run by quarterback Matthew Kelly with 44.7 seconds left in the first quarter.
Boudreau snuck in from a yard out with 3:39 left in the first half to push L-P’s lead back to 10 at 17-7, but the Panthers scored on another big play – this time a 31-yard pass from Kelly to Korey Randle with 1:52 left in the half.
The Panthers forced an L-P punt with a little more than a minute left in the first half and marched down to the L-P 10, but a penalty pushed them back and UT couldn’t get a field goal off on fourth down, sending L-P to the locker room up 17-14.
Boudreau finished 5 for 5 with 68 yards and a TD passing while running for 62 yards and a score, while Lynch added 56 rushing yards.