Excitement was in the air for the first home varsity football game against Atlantic High School, a team from Port Orange, on Friday (9/17). The Spartans had just finished construction on their brand-new turf field, and it was the first time Lakewood’s varsity team had played a game on it. 

The beginning of the game lived up to the expectation, as the kickoff was surprisingly far, considering our lack of a kicker. However, there was a penalty on the play, and a re-kick was enforced. Atlantic ended up running the ball all the way back to the end zone, beginning the game with a 0-7 lead. 

However, starting at the 20, Lakewood drove all the way down to the end zone, making the score 8-7. 

When Atlantic attempted to drive down the field, senior safety Terrell Crosby intercepted the football and drove it into the end zone. Atlantic then continued to drive down the field after the interception. However, at about the 40-yard line, Crosby intercepted another pass and ran it back for another touchdown. 

On offense for the Spartans, quarterback Anthony Colendrea connected two passes in the end zone, one to Crosby, playing wide receiver. 

As expected, the Lakewood pass defense was overpowering as Atlantic was only able to complete three passes the whole game. However, the Eagles were able to run the football very successfully against the Spartans. Whenever they would have a third down and long, Lakewood allowed the Eagles to run right through their line. 

It seemed the Spartans came out of halftime dead. The offense went four and out for five straight drives. The defense was not able to contain the run game of the Eagles, and they started driving down the field.

Coach Cory Moore said the early time of the game – 6 p.m. instead of 7 – may have affected the athletes’ performance.

“It was an early game, so it was more humid, so I think we just ran out of gas a little bit,” Moore said.

Atlantic running backs Omari Mitchell and Marquis Lymon both were able to score touchdowns for in the fourth quarter on runs making the game 36-21. Then, quarterback Zachery Waters was able to connect to wide receiver Reece Dobard for a touchdown making the game 36-28. 

Lakewood was then able to eat the rest of the clock and hold the Eagles to 28 points. 

Although a win is a win, Lakewood may need to step up its game if they want to beat Kathleen High School next week.

“We have to eat a little better, hydrate a little better, and we should be good,” Moore said.