The Collinsville Pirates remain undefeated in district action after beating the Lindsay Knights 4928.
After a close first half, Collinsville put the game away with a 4-touchdown third quarter.
Both offenses struggled to find their groove in the early going, with neither team getting much going on their opening possession, but the Knights recovered a Pirate fumble on Collinsville’s second possession, giving them good field position.
On the ensuing possession, a nine-play Lindsay drive was capped with Zachary Metzler scoring from 2 yards out, giving the Knights a 7-0 lead after kicker Waylon Krebs hit the point after.
The Pirates answered with five straight running plays before a 35-yard pass from quarterback Paxton Davidson to receiver Chad Davidson gave Collinsville a first and goal.
From there Paxton found Jaxon Spivey in the back of the end zone, and Pirates kicker Isaiah Smith made the extra point, tying the score at 7.
Lindsay had two more possessions in the second period but could not score on either of them, while Collinsville’s special teams and defense stepped up in the second quarter Pirates returner Chad set up Collinsville’s offense with a short field, which running back Chase Sheppard took advantage of with a 2-yard TD run.
Collinsville’s defense forced and recovered a fumble to send the teams to the halftime locker rooms with the Pirates leading 14-7.
Lindsay scored on their first drive of the second half with Casen Williford rushing for a 22-yard score.
A botched snap forced a two-point conversion attempt that failed, but the touchdown cut Collinsville’s lead to 14-13.
The Pirates flipped the game on its head with Collinsville scoring four straight touchdowns in the third quarter.
The first Pirate touchdown was a 2-yard run by Paxton.
On the next Lindsay possession, Chad, who also plays defensive back for the Pirates, intercepted a Lindsay pass, and one play later Paxton pitched the ball to Caysen Schafer, who connected with Chad for a 38-yard touchdown pass to put the Pirates up by 15 points.
From there, the Pirates continued their scoring barrage with Paxton throwing a 22-yard touchdown strike to Landry Spivey and then calling his own number on the next drive, rushing for his second touchdown of the game.
Before the Knights or the fans knew it, the fourth quarter began with Collinsville holding a 4213 lead.
Lindsay kept up the fight, scoring a rushing touchdown and a big play passing touchdown, but they could not overcome that third-quarter scoring run from the Pirates.
Collinsville added an insurance touchdown near the end of the game when Trent Stewart caught a 10yard touchdown pass from Chad, sealing the victory.
For the Pirates, quarterback Paxton finished the night completing 17 of 20 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns and adding two more touchdowns and 86 yards on the ground.
Sheppard added 80 yards rushing, while Chad led all Pirate receivers with 128 yards.
Collinsville and Era’s game was rescheduled to Thursday at 7 p.m. due to adverse weather conditions.
The results were not available by press time.
Assistant editor Martin Edwards contributed to this report.
Collinsville wide receiver Landry Spivey runs through the Knights defense during the win against Lindsay on Friday.
Jenna Howard/ The Post-Signal
