Lexington coach Stewart Young addressed his team ahead of their game against Swansea and asked one simple question, ‘What does the number 329 mean to you?’

After a few moments of thought, a Wildcat player raised his hand and correctly answered it was the number of days since Lexington last won a game. Letting that sink in, Young challenged his team to change that number to zero. 

The Wildcats did just that and easily dispatched Swansea this past Friday, winning 47-13. It was a dominant showing on offense and defense as Lexington did what it wanted, when it wanted. 

“It was good to see some success on both sides tonight,” Young said. “We had one night where our offense was really good. One where our defense was pretty good, and we finally kind of put it together.”

Lexington finished with 400 yards of offense, 249 passing and 151 rushing. Defensively, the Wildcats held Swansea to one score until the game’s final buzzer. 

Sophomore quarterback Easton Crocker went 9-14 for 238 yards and a touchdown. Ian Danson caught an 18-yard pass for a score, finishing with two catches for 54 yards. 

The Wildcats did a good job of spreading the ball around and getting multiple players involved. Five different runners scored a rushing touchdown and seven players caught at least one pass. 

“It kind of opens some things up. We have a little bit more depth this year than we had last year. particularly on offense,” Young said. “It’s good to be able to roll guys in different plays and call different runs and passes.” 

Swansea started the game with the ball but only went backwards after a false start followed by a sack killed the drive. 

Lexington got the ball in plus territory and drove 49 yards to score the game's first points. Shannon Lytes scored his first of two touchdowns, this one punched in from one yard away. 

The Tigers responded to the Wildcats' score with their best drive of the game. 

Swansea moved the ball on the ground and got some assistance thanks to a pair of pass interference mistakes by Lexington’s defense. Trace Selfridge capped the drive with an 18-yard touchdown reception to tie the game.

That was the last time the game would be close as Lexington went on to score another touchdown in the first quarter and three more in the second to go into halftime up 34-7. 

Lytes got his second score, Crocker scored on a QB sneak, Noah Dunn scored a touchdown and Danson caught his. 

Lexington played most of the second half with their backups in the game. 

Quarterback Caedmon Watson resumed the scoring with a rushing touchdown of his own in the third quarter. Joshua Lacy scored Lexington’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter. 

With the running clock in effect, Swansea had one final drive. The Tigers did not accept surrender and kept trying until the clock hit zero. 

Swansea moved downfield and got into the red zone with under a minute to go. The team quickly got a few plays off before giving it one final try. 

Tiger quarterback Tarez James kept it himself and dodged a few tackles to cross the goal line as time expired. The points may not have mattered, but they symbolized the team’s willingness to compete to the end. 

“Swansea’s a good football team,” Young said. “They're fast, physical. They're in great shape. They weren't cramping playing guys both ways.”

While the effort was there, the Tigers are still searching for their first win this season. Swansea is (0-3) this season with losses to Keenan, Aiken and Lexington. 

The Tigers will try to bounce back this week when they travel for a meeting with Pelion. 

Lexington improved to (1-3) this season thanks to the win. The Wildcats shook off close losses against Midland Valley and North Augusta and will look to carry that momentum into next week’s matchup versus Spring Valley. 

“We're a pretty good football team, and we played some really good football teams the first two games,” Young said. “We were winning in the second half and had our chances in both of those games, so we knew we were pretty good and we can be good. We're not there yet, but we're getting there.”

Lexington County scoreboard 

Chapin: 24, Aiken: 21

Dutch Fork: 56, Spartanburg: 14

River Bluff: 45, Spring Valley: 7

TL Hanna: 28, White Knoll: 27 

James Island: 49, Gray Collegiate: 20

Irmo: 55, Lower Richland: 0 

Keenan: 44, Airport: 12

South Aiken: 30, Brookland-Cayce: 20

Pelion: 56, Ridge Spring-Monetta: 26

Saluda: 48, Batesburg-Leesville: 28

Northside Christian: 62, Spartanburg Day: 10