CHARLOTTESVILLE — A week ago, Eastern Hancock traveled to Lapel to close out the regular season, and fell 36-31 in what was a preview of the sectional quarterfinals on Friday.
In the rematch, and the game that mattered more, an Aaron Redmon field goal in the closing seconds gave the Royals the 45-43 victory.
Just like the first matchup, Friday night’s contest was a back-and-forth high-scoring affair.
A Mark Kube touchdown run to open the game gave the Royals an early lead, but the Bulldogs answered with the next two scores.
Jack Miller broke off a 39-yard touchdown run, and later in the first quarter, Devin Craig connected with Nick Witte on a 27-yard touchdown pass to put the Bulldogs ahead 14-7.
Both teams added a second-quarter touchdown, and the Royals tacked on a field goal to enter the half trailing 21-16.
Kube punched in a one-yard run for this second score of the night, and Miller added his second touchdown on a 24-yard run.
In the second half, there were nine lead changes before the game-winning field goal.
Kube added three more touchdowns, and Elijah Edon connected with Dylan Bowman for the Royals other second-half score.
The Bulldogs took the lead 43-42 with just 27 seconds remaining, but a long kick return set up the Royals for the game-winning field goal.
Eastern Hancock will play at Cardinal Ritter next Friday at 7 p.m.
