In a game in which every yard came hard to the very end, Anthony Wayne emerged with a 9-6 season-opening nonleague football victory over visiting Findlay on Friday night.

Junior placekicker Seth VonLehmden booted a 23-yard field goal with 2:47 remaining to put the Generals ahead, and the AW defense survived the Trojans' final drive to win or force overtime.

"Our defense gave one heck of an effort," AW coach Andy Brungard said. "Our offense spotted [Findlay] six points in the first half, and we win 9-6. The speed on our defense was key, and luckily our offense pounded it in the second half.

"We made a few mistakes in the first half, and obviously they made some adjustments to stop what we typically do. But, I thought our kids just kept fighting and scrapping, and doing whatever they could to put points on the board."

Anthony Wayne used 14 plays to set up the winning kick in a drive that took 7:52 off the clock and was keyed by the clutch play of Grant Kinnee.

The sophomore quarterback ran for 13 yards on one third-and-10 situation, then for eight yards on a fourth-and-4 play to get the Generals to the Findlay 14.

Although he did not complete his first pass in the game until that final possession (2 of 9, 8 yards), Kinnee ran for 82 yards on 16 carries to complement reigning NLL player of the year Joe Caswell's 124 yards on 24 attempts.

"I started off a little rough but all my teammates were super supportive," Kinnee said. "They came up to me and said, 'We believe in you,' and "You got this.' "Without them, none of this could have happened. I always thank my line. They did an incredible job. And, our defense held an incredible Findlay offense to six points."

After Von Lehmden's winning kick, Findlay much more heralded sophomore QB — major Division I college recruit Ryan Montgomery — completed six of eight passes for 41 yards in his team's last bid.

His last pass, which was very close to being a game-winning 27-yard touchdown connection to Javonte Hill, was ruled incomplete near the left pilon at the goal line.

In a fourth-and-13 situation, Trojans coach Stefan Adams opted to try to tie the game on a 44-yard field-goal try by Owen Cleavenger with 33 seconds left. The kick had plenty of distance, but missed left to seal the win for AW.

Montgomery was 21 of 29 for 130 yards passing in the game.

The Generals had tied the game with 3:35 left in the third quarter, when Kinnee capped a 41-yard drive on a two-yard TD run around left end. But, the Trojans blocked VonLehmden's extra-point try.

The only first-half scoring came when Findlay capitalized on AW's lone turnover of the half, a costly giveaway at its 16.

Kinnee's pass bounced through the hands of Zack Carpenter, and into the hands of a diving Trojans defensive back Hudson Goebel.

Findlay then converted a first down at the 3 on a completion from Montgomery to Hill and, two plays later, fullback Connor Harp rammed in on a second-effort plunge from the 1.

Cleavenger's extra-point kick failed, and Findlay led 6-0 with 6:24 left in the half.

Findlay had failed to cash in on a golden opportunity on its first possession of the game after earning a first-and-goal at the 8. The Trojans ran the ball four times, and failed to reach the end zone, with the AW defensive front stopping Montgomery's fourth-down sneak attempt from the 1.

"We had chances but we came up short," Adams said. "We had some penalties and mistakes early on, and we've got to get better and get it fixed. That's on me. The end result is, we walk out of here and we didn't get it done. We've got to do better."

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