Lee County Rolls Past Western Harnett 54-6 **Sets Up Showdown With Triton For Title On Monday Night

The Lee County Yellow Jackets rode a strong passing night from Will Patterson and a relentless defensive front that kept Western Harnett with long yardage all night, and rolled to a 54-6 victory Thursday night.   Patterson was 18 of 26 for 336 yards and 4 touchdowns on the night as Lee County jumped out to an early 15-0 lead and steadily put the Eagles away.   Tyrik McKendall scored four times for the Yellow Jackets with 3 TD catches and one running score from a wildcat formation.   The Lee defense held the Eagles to no first downs in the 2^nd half as the defensive front caught the Eagles 12 times behind the line of scrimmage on the night and only allowed six 2^nd half yards.    McKendall and Carlos Hancock intercepted Eagle passes and Lee County won the turnover battle for 5^th consecutive game.

The win moves Lee County to 3-0 in league play and will now face Triton Monday night for the Conference Title and most likely the only playoff spot from the Tri-County 3A.   The Hawks lead the league in rushing and sit at 3-0 after a huge 60-27 road win at Union Pines tonight.   Monday’s game will start at 6:30 at Paul Gay Stadium in Sanford.

Scoring

Western Harnett     0     6     0     0     6

Lee County              15   22   14    3    54

Scoring Summary

LC – TJ Johnson 7 run (2-pt conv good)

LC – Tyric McKendall 13 pass from Will Patterson (Kennedy Hernandez kick)

LC – McKendall 1 run (2-pt conv good)

LC – McKendall 40 pass from Patterson (Hernandez kick)

WH – Bass 5 run (kick failed)

LC – Anthony Smith 81 kickoff return (Hernandez kick)

LC – Eli Garrison 6 pass from Patterson (Hernandez kick)

LC – McKendall 21 pass from Patterson (Hernandez kick)

LC – Hernandez 28 FG

Rushing

WH – 23-9

LC – TJ Johnson 8-52, McKendall 2-1, JoJo Jennings 1-3, Mark Schlesinger 1-2, Noah Johns 3-15, Patterson 4-(-20)  Totals 19-53

Passing

WH – Ung 4-18-9, Botts 1-2-42 Totals 5-20-51

LC – Will Patterson 18-26-336

Receiving

WH – 5-51

LC – McKendall 6-136, Kenyon Palmer 3-58, Eli Garrison 4-41, Jackson Lamb 1-72, Jayden Marshall 1-21, Kyle Townsend 1-12, Kendrick Cox 1-(-5), Anthony Smith 1-1  Totals 18-336

*Lee County won the turnover battle 3-2 and are now +10 on the season.

*Will Patterson was named the Normann Financial Group Offensive Player of the Game and Carlos Hancock was named Defensive Player of the Game.

*Lee County won their 19^th consecutive league game with 2 regular season games remaining next week – at home Monday night with Triton and Friday on the road at Southern Lee.