Lee avoids upset

FORT DEFIANCE — Terrell Mickens ensured that the Southern Valley District-leading Robert E. Lee Leemen would leave Fort Defiance with a win on a rainy Friday night, as the junior running back and wide receiver filled in at yet another offensive position – quarterback – and led his team to a rousing 27-20 victory.

Mickens, who ran for 133 yards, stepped in at quarterback after starter Devante White went out with a sore leg in the fourth quarter. After the Indians tied the game at 20 apiece, Mickens and the Leemen were back in business. Mickens’ 27-yard pass to Chandler Roberts set up a 23-yard breakaway touchdown run by Chris Williams that was later nullified by a flag for illegal block in the back. The penalty did not hinder the Leemen, as Mickens then completed an 18-yard pass to Corey Curry on second down and 20, and then two plays later, Mickens’ 11-yard touchdown run sealed the victory for the gutsy Leemen (5-3).

“Terrell Mickens is a winner,” said Lee head coach David Tibbs. “We just put him in there and rode him, and he made a couple of critical passes.”

Mickens also ran for a touchdown in the third quarter, prior to a furious rally by the hungry Indians.

Fort Defiance (2-6) came to life in the game’s final quarter, after struggling on offense and failing to shut down Lee’s high-powered attack throughout the first three.

Trailing 20-7, the Indians were led by senior Dakota Canipe on a drive that pulled them to within one score of the Leemen. Canipe’s one-yard touchdown run capped off the long series in which he carried the ball six times.

On the Indians’ next possession, Ronnie Mongold’s thrilling 71-yard touchdown sprint tied the game at 20 with 3:45 remaining, but Fort Defiance failed to go ahead when their extra point attempt was botched.

The Indians did not go ahead the whole game, as Mickens’ late-game heroics left them shocked and deflated at the end of a wet, soggy night.

Fort Defiance head coach Dan Rolfe could not deny that this would be difficult for his team to put behind them, but liked the mindset his guys were in.

“It hurts. There were some tears shed on this field tonight,” he said. “We came into this game expecting to win, and they were a better football team, but we expected to win.”

Before leaving the game, White threw for two touchdowns in the first half for the Leemen, one on a 21-yard pass to Roberts on Lee’s first possession of the game and the other on a 64-yard bomb to Williams to give his team a 14-0 halftime lead that would soon evaporate.

Canipe also garnered a multi-touchdown game for the Indians, scoring on a two-yard run in the second quarter that came after Mongold picked off White and returned the ball to Lee’s eight-yard line.