LEXINGTON – Judging from his smile, there was an ice bath waiting with Joe Caudill’s name on it.
Not only did Lexington’s senior quarterback touch the ball on every offensive play Friday night – accounting for three touchdowns and 329 yards of total offense – his imprint was all over the biggest play on defense as the host Minutemen outlasted Clear Fork 31-28 in a wild shootout.
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It was Caudill’s interception with 42 seconds left that sealed the outcome after the Colts had scored on fourth-and-eight, recovered the ensuing onside kick and set themselves up for a dramatic comeback win with a first down on the Lex 11.
But Caudill said nope, not on my watch.
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“Losing wasn’t an option; it’s as simple as that,” the Michigan State commit said. “I knew once we were back there (up against the goal line), we had to make a play. It was do or die right there. We stepped up as a team.”
Caudill’s defensive heroics couldn’t overshadow what he did on the other side of the ball. He was 15 of 24 passing for 228 yards and a pair of long touchdown passes to Georgia commit Brayden Fogle. He also rushed for 161 yards on 20 carries, including a 69-yard breakaway for a TD.
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Clear Fork came in 2-0 for the first time in seven years, including a season-opening win over 2024 state runner-up Sandusky Perkins. The Minutemen, meanwhile, were looking to get back on the beam after losing at state power Shelby last week.
“This is so special,” Caudill said. “We fought through so much adversity. We lost a brother out there tonight (senior running back/defensive back Brandon Reaves got hurt in the first half), but we came together as a team.
“I told my team, I promise you, we’re going to win this game. I’m going to fight for every single one of you. We’re going to get it done tonight.”
Clear Fork High School’s Brayden Hayes (33) tackles Lexington High School’s Joe Caudill (17) during high school football action Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 at Lexington High School. TOM E. PUSKAR/MANSFIELD NEWS JOURNAL
Caudill, at outside linebacker, didn’t want to see his offensive performance go to waste with Lex’s back against the wall in the waning minutes.
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“I saw the quarterback’s eyes and that he was looking at that hitch route,” he said. “I knew it was coming. I was getting on my tail to get out there and get under (the pass).”
It was one of three Clear Fork turnovers in the second half, spoiling an otherwise outstanding effort by the Colts, particularly junior quarterback Marcus Hoeflich. Like Caudill, he did it all for his team, completing 18 of 27 passes for 318 yards and a TD, rushing for 65 yards and two TDs on 14 carries, and, oh, yeah, he picked off a pass in the end zone.
“We’ve got a great group of kids, ready to fight for each other,” third-year coach Aaron Brokaw said. “You saw that tonight. They played for 48 minutes. They’re relentless in the weight room. They’re looking for extra work. They’re committed to each other.”
That doesn’t mean Brokaw won’t be seeing Caudill in his sleep.
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“He’s a good athlete; he’s going to Michigan State for a reason,” Brokaw said of the future Big Ten tight end. “I thought we battled our butts off. I’m proud of the effort, but we had too many turnovers tonight. We didn’t play clean like we did in the first two weeks, and it hurt.”
Clear Fork was a defensive monster the first two weeks, but this night belonged to the offenses, which combined for eight touchdowns and 847 yards total offense.
And to think that Caudill was responsible for more than a third of that yardage, you wonder if the two-way star almost has too much on his plate.
“A year or two ago, I would have said yes,” Lex coach Andrew Saris said. “But the more I coach him, he thrives on that. So I’ve stopped worrying about it.
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“He’s Joe Football. There’s nothing the kid can’t do. It feels like he plays every position for us. He’s always telling me, ‘I got you coach.’ Just nonchalant. Not in an arrogant way, just in a ‘this is what I was born to do’ way. I was born to be a football player. I was born to be a competitor. It’s really great to coach that kid.”
The Big Ten-SEC connection never looked better. Caudill and Fogle hooked up five times for 150 yards, including touchdowns of 57 and 43 yards and a 44-yard pass play that led to Lex’s first points, a 23-yard field goal from Cohen Lautzenhiser.
After playing it close to the vest for most of the first half, with the offense amounting mostly to designed runs by Caudill, the Minutemen grabbed the lead for good at 10-7 after taking over on downs at its own 32 with less than two minutes to go.
Instead of running out the clock, Lex went to the air, with Caudill lofting the 57-yard pay-off to Fogle down the right side.
Lexington High School’s Brayden Fogle (8) pulls in a pass from Joe Caudill after getting past Clear Fork High School’s Marcus Hoeflich (2) for a second quarter touchdown during high school football action Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 at Lexington High School. TOM E. PUSKAR/MANSFIELD NEWS JOURNAL
“Before that drive, they told me, playmakers make plays,” Fogle said. “That’s what football is. I made a play and Joe threw a great pass. He made it easy for me. I turned around and walked to the end zone.”
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The potential for Caudill and Fogle to wreak havoc is always there, so why now, against a team that had been playing great defense?
“So much hard work,” Caudill said “We stayed after practice every day this week and worked on high-pointing the football, doing extra routes. All you saw tonight was a continuance of hard work throughout the week, and it pays off on Friday night.
“Shout-out to our OC (offensive coordinator), Jacob Owens. He knew what we’re capable of. Our O-line came up huge and let our guys make plays.”
Fogle believes Friday’s outburst could be a springboard to big things.
“They’re a great defense; credit to them, they made it tough on us,” he said. “But I give a huge shout-out to our O-line. All week we challenged them. They stepped up. When they play like this, we’re going to win games. I think we could go 9-1. Our guys made plays on offense and defense. That’s what it’s all about.”
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Clear Fork’s only touchdown in the first half came on a four-yard run by Devyn Oswalt after the Colts had recovered an errant snap at the Lex 14. But the offense started humming in the second half behind two touchdown runs by Hoeflich, which offset Caudill’s long scoring jaunt and Fogle’s second TD, where he out-leaped a defender in the end zone for the ball.
It looked like Lex was headed to a pullaway victory late in the fourth quarter when Dantrell Hughes yanked the ball out of the mitts of a Clear Fork receiver. On the next play, Seven Allen broke free from a scrum and sailed down the right sideline for a 60-yard TD, making it 31-20.
Any chance of a Clear Fork comeback seemed faint when Lex linebacker Cole Eichorn, who earlier recovered a fumble, sacked Hoeflich for a 14-yard loss. But third-and-24 turned into a more manageable fourth-and-8 and Hoeflich hit Oswalt for a 17-yard TD.
The Colts also converted on the two-point PAT to make it 31-28, forcing Joe Football to come up with … One. More. Big. Play.
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“Clear Fork, gosh, they battled,” Saris said. “That was a great football team. You hate to compare football games to war, but that was as close to a battle and war I’ve ever seen.”
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Lexington Minutemen beat Clear Fork Colts in high school football
