MARIETTA - Consider Philip Lutzenkirchen's on-field application for Player of the Week officially submitted.

Piling up highlight plays on offense, defense and special teams, Lassiter's junior tight end-defensive end figured in nearly all of the scoring Friday night as the visiting Trojans breathed life into their playoff hopes while extinguishing homestanding Pope's in 17-10 in a Region 6AAAAA victory.

"Defensively I missed a couple of tackles, and there's always room for improvement," Lutzenkirchen said after the Trojans (2-5, 1-1) escaped a last-minute effort by the Greyhounds to tie the game.

However, Lutzenkirchen's contributions belie his modesty: On Pope's first possession, Lutzenkirchen fell on a dropped pitch by quarterback Parker Frost at the Greyhounds' 19-yard-line, leading to Joey Hnath's 33-yard field goal.

On Pope's third possession, also in the first period, Lutzenkirchen broke through to block a punt and then recover it for touchdown.

After Pope forged a 10-10 tie with 3:15 left in the game, Lutzenkirchen snagged a square-out pass from quarterback Schuyler Vaughan, sidestepped the Greyhounds' defender and galloped 33 yards to score the game-clinching touchdown with only 50 seconds left on the clock. "I usually don't juke very well," said Lutzenkirchen of his move. "I just try to put my head down and make yardage."

But wait, there's more.

Also on special teams, Lutzenkirchen pinned Pope inside its 5-yard-line by downing Cody Johnson's punt at the 4 in the fourth period. And on defense, he knocked down a Frost fourth-down pass at the line of scrimmage to give Lassiter possession in the third period. And then, in the fading seconds, Lutzenkirchen horse collared Garrett Brown away from the sideline on a pass play, keeping the clock running and forcing the Greyhounds to use one of their timeouts.

"He's just a great kid, besides being a rock-solid, dependable player," said Lassiter coach Greg Dirst, who labeled Lutzenkirchen's overall performance not that much out of the ordinary for him. "He comes to play every game, and that's what he gives us every game."

Meanwhile, Frost nearly matched his opponent in heroics, scoring the Greyhounds' only touchdown on a 36-yard keeper that began as a sneak for a first down but blossomed into a score when Lutzenkirchen attempted to strip the ball rather than wrap up Frost for the tackle. Frost finished as the game's leading rusher with 109 yards, adding 85 yards passing, and also while playing defensive back, contributed an interception at the Lassiter 24 that led to Brian Gaid's 30-yard field goal with only 19 seconds left in the first half.

"Parker is a great athlete, and if he keeps chipping away, something will break loose eventually," said Pope coach Bob Swank after his team fell to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the subregion. "Our defense played much better, but we left too many plays out on the field tonight."

With a few penalties plus several dropped passes, the Greyhounds' offense sputtered throughout, managing only one sustained drive the entire game, and that one was impressive: 96 yards in the fourth period, with Frost's 34-yard screen pass to Marcorus Garrett and Garrett Brown's 15-yard halfback pass to Sam Ely eventually leading to Frost's touchdown scamper.

In a stroke of good fortune, Pope's high-snap missed extra point was negated by the rarely-called defensive hurdling over the line of scrimmage. Gaid made his second-chance opportunity to tie the game.

Comment on this Story

Comments posted below are not edited and do not necessarily represent the views of the Marietta Daily Journal. Comments are reviewed before they are posted.

Please enter the validation words. If you cannot read them, you may obtain a fresh set of words by hitting the button.