Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

COAL GROVE — In the showdown for the Ohio Valley Conference lead, the Coal Grove Hornets didn’t show up in the first half.
But the Hornets made quite a showing in the second half as they shut down the Fairland offense and rallied to beat the Dragons 29-19 on Friday.
Coal Grove is now 8-1 on the season and 6-0 in the OVC to clinch at least a share of the league title.
Fairland fell to 5-4 and 5-1 in the league.
Next Friday, Coal Grove looks to lock up the title outright as well as a home playoff game at Rock Hill while Fairland hosts Chesapeake.
Coal Grove fell behind 19-6 at the half before coming back strong in the second half.
The Hornets took a 6-0 lead with 3:30 left in the first quarter on a 2-yard run by Kimo Baldwin.
Fairland took over the game in the second quarter by scoring all its points.
Quarterback Joel Lambiotte kept the ball and ran 14 yards for a touchdown to tie the game with 10:50 on the clock.
The Dragons then used a halfback pass to score as Keedrick Cunningham threw 25 yards to Reily Sowards and Tayton Hunt’s kick put Fairland ahead 13-6.
Cunningham extended the lead to 19-6 with just 20 seconds left in the half with a 5-yard touchdown run.
Coal Grove regrouped at halftime and went on a scoring drive on its first possession of the half.
Aaron Music ran 4 yards for the touchdown and Nate Harmon threw to Jeb Jones for the conversion and it was 19-14.
The Hornets the came back to take the lead on a 9-yard run by Music with 7:38 left in the game. Harmon ran for the conversion and a 22-19 lead.
Harmon put the game away when he shook a tackle and ran 24 yards for a touchdown on a fourth down play late in the game. Evan Holmes kicked the conversion.
Coal Grove finished with 250 total yards — all on the ground. Baldwin ran 17 times for 84 yards, Harmon 10 times for 70 yards and Kyle Sites had 18 carries for 70 yards.
Joey Workman had two interceptions for the Hornets’ defense.
Fairland finished with 282 total yards with just 82 on the ground but 200 through the air.
Cunningham ran 17 times for 55 yards and caught seven passes for 95 yards. Ty Wilcoxon had nine catches for 73 yards.
Lambiotte was 16-of-24 passing for 137 yards and two interceptions.
Fairland     0    19    0    0    =    19
Coal Grove    6    0    8    15    =    29
First Quarter
CG – Kimo Baldwin 2 run (run failed) 3:30
Second Quarter
Fa – Joel Lambiotte 14 run (kick failed) 10:50
Fa – Reily Sowards 25 pass from Keedrick Cunningham (Tayton Hunt kick) 4:28
Fa – Keedrick Cunningham 5 run (kick failed) 0:20
Third Quarter
CG – Aaron Music 4 run (Jeb Jones pass from Nate Harmon) 7:10
Fourth Quarter
CG – Aaron Music 9 run (Nate Harmon run) 7:38
CG – Nate Harmon 24 run (Evan Holmes kick)
——
Fa    CG
First downs    12    12
Rushes-yards    24-82    51-250
Passing yards    200    0
Total yards    282    250
Cmp-Att-Int    17-25-2    0-2-0
Fumbles-lost    0-0    0-0
Penalties-yards    5-50    10-85
Punts-average    3-47.0    1-62.0
——
Individual Leaders
RUSHING —Fairland: Keedrick Cunningham 17-55, Chase Fisher 2-6, Ty Wilcoxon 2-7, Joel Lambiotte 3-14; Coal Grove: Kimo Baldwin 17-84, Kyle Sites 18-70, Aaron Music 5-25, Joey Workman 1-1, Nate Harmon 10-70.
PASSING — Fairland: Joel Lambiotte 16-24-2 137, Keedrick Cunningham 1-1-0 25; Coal Grove: Nate Harmon 0-2-0.
RECEIVING — Fairland: Keedrick Cunningham 7-95, Ty Wilcoxon 9-73, Reily Sowards 2-32; Coal Grove: None.