LEXINGTON -- Star tailback T.J. Stinde hadn't found the end zone in the first half and his team was trailing 12-7.
But Stinde and his Lexington High School football teammates had plenty of motivation for a second-half surge.
"Nobody wants to go home," the senior said.
Stinde broke free on two long touchdown runs in the second half and finished with 232 yards rushing on 25 carries as the Minutemen rallied for a 20-12 victory over rival LeRoy in a Class 1A second-round playoff football game Saturday.
"We did a great job fighting back. We were down early but a win is all that matters," said Stinde, who pushed his season rushing totals to 2,665 yards and 39 scores. "Everybody played great, that's all I want to see."
Lexington worked field-position strategy to its advantage in the third quarter, twice forcing the Panthers to punt into the wind from their own 1. The first instance set the stage for a 35-yard scamper by Stinde that gave Lexington a 13-12 lead.
"All year long, we rode T.J. We've got a thoroughbred and we know we can keep going to him," said Lexington coach Mike Castleman. "He's just an incredible running back and we know eventually he's going to break it."
With three minutes left, Stinde swept left and broke free down the sideline on a 60-yard dash that widened the lead to eight points. Paul Harrison snuffed out the ensuing LeRoy drive with an interception and Stinde gained 15 yards to pick up a first down on third and long that allowed the Minutemen to run out the clock.
"Stinde is an excellent football player. The thing that was so impressive about Lexington was their ability to get out and run and attack the perimeter," said LeRoy coach B.J. Zeleznik, whose team saw its season end at 8-3. "They were able to make some adjustments defensively that caused us some issues. They kept themselves in a good spot and it was a matter of time, then Stinde took off."
After Lexington was penalized three times on its opening possession, the Panthers took off first when Kyle Eastham bolted down the right sideline on a 51-yard TD less than four minutes into the game. LeRoy doubled its lead in the second quarter on its first pass of the day, a 21-yard play-action strike from Eric Steffen to a wide open Ethan Bruning.
With the Panthers keeping Stinde in check, the Minutemen turned to their passing attack to jump-start their offense. Chris Beard found a streaking John Schuler down the left sideline on a 48-yard heave 4½ minutes before halftime.
"We knew there were going to be big plays in this ballgame. That's their M.O., they score quickly and often on people," said Zeleznik. "We knew it was not going to be a 12-0 ballgame and our kids were going to have to react and bounce back to adversity at some point."
Eastham finished with 131 yards rushing, with 108 coming in the first half. Jason Byro led the Panthers' defensive effort with 12 tackles and a sack.
Castleman seemed relieved his team rebounded from a sluggish first half.
"These guys are going to be the death of me yet. Sometimes they come out first half and it's like they've forgotten everything we've taught them all year," he said. "We talk at halftime, make the adjustments and we play 48 minutes. These guys are hanging around and they know they're always going to have a chance to win."