On a cool overcast evening with the threat of rain, Lexington overcame early setbacks to defeat Blythewood 35-14 for Homecoming. 

The Wildcats entered the game 2-1, beating South Aiken and Stratford the last two weeks after losing the opening game to West Florence. They jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a 20-yard touchdown run by quarterback Taiden Mines and 82-yard scoring run by Jonah Norris. 

Norris was the story of the Wildcats’ offense with a career-best 337 yards to go with his two scores. 

The Bengals used their passing game to put together two scoring drives to tie the game at 14-14. The Wildcats didn’t help themselves by committing multiple penalties in the first half, something Lexington head coach Perry Woolbright admitted after the game.

“We were making mistakes, jumping offsides, getting holding penalties,” he said. “What we told them at halftime is that we were playing tough but hurting ourselves. We cleaned that up in the second half, which really helped us.”

Mines threw two touchdown passes in the second half to Kamadi Maxwell. He finished 8-14 passing for 157 yards, with Maxwell catching five passes for 133 yards. 

Norris carried the ball even more in the second half to put the game away. 

“A team like Blythewood, you’re not going to just drive down the field and score,” Woolbright said. “You have to have those big plays, and guys like Norris who can make those big plays for you. We have Gilbert coming here next week, and against them, and our region, too, we’re not going to get those twelve play drives–we are going to have to make the big plays.”

The Gilbert matchup isn’t a region game, but it is a big one in Lexington County terms, Woolbright admits. 

“It’s going to be one of the biggest, most well attended games in the state next week,” He predicted. “These two communities are really close, and a lot of people who live in Lexington went to Gilbert High, and people living in Gilbert went to Lexington. Our kids know each other, everybody knows each other–it’s going to be an exciting game.” 

Woolbright is also the son of former Gilbert head coach Marty Woolbright. The elder Woolbright is the school’s career leader in victories (68), a mark current Indians’ head coach Chad Leaphart trails by seven games.