Lakewood’s Brandon White makes a big tackle early, which set the tone in the game for the Leopards against Spring Creek.(Brandt Young|Special to the Tribune)
It was all Lakewood Friday night as the Leopards defeated the Spring Creek Gators, 60-6 at home.
This was also the opening game for the Leopards in the John Holt era, just the sixth football coach ever at Lakewood.
The Leopards kicked off to start the game, and their dfense set the tone early. In consectuive plays in the first drive, Spring Creek had false start penalties, which pushed them back to 2nd and 19. Facing a long third down, Spring Creek’s quarterback scrambled out of the pocket and connected with a reciever for a long pass, which gave them the first down.
Passing seemed to be the Gators’ key to success early on, as they could not get much momentum on the ground. Facing another third-and-long, Spring Creek called their first timeout. On the ensuing playing, the quaterback dropped back for a pass, which was intercepted by Lakewood’s Dontavious Smith and returned for a touchdown of more than 50 yards at the 8:06 mark.
After the PAT, Spring Creek had yet another false start. Another third-and-long, which was the name of the game of the Spring Creek’s offense, led to a failed conversion and a punt, which did not travel very fair.
On Lakewood’s very first play on offense, sophomore running back Calvin Lacewell, Jr. rumbled his way into the end zone to give the Leopards the two-score advantage. The PAT was good, which made the score 14-0 with 5:53 left in the first quarter.
A three-and-out by Spring Creek on the following posession gave Lakewood the ball back on the Gators’ side of the field. Running was the go-to for the Leopards on this possession, as Lacewell, Chris Carr, and Rylan Godbold all had runs to push deep into the opposing territory.
It was Lacewell again who scored on a short run with 3:11 to go in the first quarter, giving the Leopards at 21-0 lead.
Not to be outdone, Spring Creek fired back with a score of their own on the next drive, which would ultimately be their last touchdown of the night. This made it a 21-6 ball game in favor of Lakewood with 1:19 left in the first quarter.
A good return on the ensuing kickoff and a long run by Carr set Godbold up for a 30-yard touchdown run of his own, making it 28-6 with 39 seconds to go in the opening quarter.
Spring Creek struggled with the run all night, but had decent success airing the ball out, as long as the Leopards didn’t apply too much pressure. Lakewood ran their defense out of the 4-3 formation, which didn’t give the Gators much room to run.
The Gators looked to convert fourth down opportunities in the second half, instead of giving Lakewood the ball back via punts. This did not prove to be much more successful, as they ultimately failed to convert any of them.
Calvin Lacewell ran for another score in the second quarter, but it was called back due to a hold. Lakewood eventually punted to Spring Creek, who didn’t move the ball much, and gave it right back.
On the punt giving Lakewood possession, Dontavius Smith returned the kick for a touchdown, marking his second score of the night. This put the Leopards up 35-6, with 4:58 left in the first half.
Jaziah Brunson added another score of his own, rushing into the end zone to give Lakewood a 41-6 lead at the 2:49 mark.
Another possession by Spring Creek that ended in them going for it on fourth down and failing to convert gave Lakewood the ball back late in the first half.
Lacewell busted off a 25-yard run, but was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct afterwards, which pushed the Leopards back to the 20 yard line of Spring Creek. Carr added another score on the next play, making it 48-6 with 1:14 left in the half, which would be the score as the teams hit halftime.
Because of the large lead, a running clock was enforced for the second half. Lakewood started their backup players, allowing them to get some varsity action.
Carr had three large runs in a row on Lakewood’s first possession of the half, but two of them were called back because of holding. Xavier Hall also received carries with freshman Reed Ammons handling quarterback duties.
The Leopards were stopped for a fourth-and-long on the drive, which forced them to punt. Spring Creek fumbled it, but quickly recovered before the Leopards could get their paws on it.
On the next play, which was Spring Creek’s first play of the second half, Nakai Owens picked off Spring Creek’s passed and hustled into the end zone, securing a 54-6 lead for Lakewood deep into the third quarter. The PAT was low and didn’t make it past the line.
Spring Creek again muffed the kickoff return, which ultimately led to a touchback for the Gators.
Ammons scored on a misdirection QB run in the fourth quarter for the last score of the game, making it 60-6.
“Feels good,” said Holt, after the game. “I’m proud of our guys, they did a good job competing and finishing. I’m giving them the night off and tomorrow we’ll get started for KIPP Pride on Thursday.”
Lakewood travels to KIPP Pride next Thursday; they will not be playing on Friday night.
