LAKE WALES — Early in the week, Lake Wales coach Tavaris Johnson didn’t downplay the importance of the Highlanders’ opening game against DeLand, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 6A.
“We’re not looking for recognition, but it will let us know we are a state contender team,” he said on Tuesday.
And the verdict?
Lake Wales certainly will be team to be reckoned with this season. But for 1 more yard, and the Highlanders would have pulled off perhaps the season’s first big upset.
But with DeLand stopping Lake Wales quarterback Kingston Loydd at the 1-yard line on a two-point conversion with 2:25 remaining, it allowed DeLand to escape with a 35-34 victory at Legion Field.
“I’m very proud of what I saw,” Lake Wales coach Tavaris Johnson said. “You look at the first two series and you think like, uh oh. But then we came out of this deep sleep and realized that, all right, we’re just as physical as them. We just got to obviously find ourselves. We want to schedule ranked opponents, to get uncomfortable, to getto see what it feels like to play state. teams, guys that are coached well, teams that are well organized.”
DeLand appeared to have the game in hand when Kaveon Jackson scored to go up 35-21 with 6:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. However, Lake Wales did not go away.
On the ensuing possession, Lake Wales drove 69 yards on eight plays and scored on Loydd’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Kaneilius Purdy to make the scored 35-28 after the extra point.
Kamari Smith then sprinted 10 yards to grab Bobby Rice’s perfectly executed onside kick to give Lake Wales possession at the DeLand 41.
After an incomplete pass, Smith scampered 17 yards, was tackled hard and was slow getting up. Nashid Jenkins came in for a play and ran 22 yards for the score.
Johnson opted to go for the two-point conversion and the potential win, but Loydd’s scamper up the middle was just short of the goal line.
“We had the momentum,” Johnson said. “We already said once we got the onside kick, it was already planned. We’re going to get the onside kick. We’re going to drive down and score. We’re going to go for two. A team like that, you know, um, you know, it’s just overtime. You think about it and that style of offense is tough. The guys will beat down. I’m going with my guys no matter what, and senior-led team, they said, coach, we’re going for it.”
Here are three more takeaway from Lake Wales’ close loss.
Lake Wales’ Big 3 is the real deal
Lake Wales showed it’s going take an elite defense to slow down its offense, led by Loydd, Kaneilius Purdy and Smith, by putting up 34 points against the top-ranked Bulldogs.
Then Highlanders went three-and-out on its first possession then got rolling. Down 14-0, the Highlanders came back to tie the score at 14-14, perhaps missing the chance to go up 21-14 when a possession in between the two scores was stopped on fourth down by an inches — or less — at the DeLand 20.
Loydd had a big day with 242 yards of total offense. He completed 12 of 18 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
Kaneilius Purdy caught nine passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. His 48-yard reception set up the first score and he later scored on a 40-yard pass.
Smith rushed for 82 yards on 16 carries.
Lake Wales developing playmakers around the Big 3
Sooner or later Daniel James is going to break loose — a couple of forced passes to hime went incomplete — but Tycen Hendrix and Kaden Evans came up with big catches.
With Lake Wales backed up to 9 after a 28 yards in penalties, Evans had a big 34-yard reception. While Lake Wales was stopped on third down and punted, it allowed the Highlanders to flip the field as DeLand ended up starting at it 18.
Hendrix came up with a big catch in the fourth quarter for 18 yards that set up first and 10 at the 14. Lake Wales scored three plays later.
Lake Wales’ defense struggled on third down
It was a mixed effort by the Lake Wales defense. The good was that after a slow start, the unit stiffened up to make stops that allowed the offense to get the team back into the game.
The bad, something the coaches talked to the players after the game, was the big plays the defense allowed on third or fourth down.
DeLand had third-and-3 on its first possession then scored on a 68-yard pass play.
On the go-ahead touchdown drive to end the first half, DeLand converted third-and-3 to keep the drive alive then scored on fourth-and-goal at the 3.
DeLand had fourth-and-7 at the Lake Wales 35 on another scoring drive and gained 23 yards. Then on its final scoring drive, DeLand gained 50 yards on third-and-16 on a halfback pass.
“We missed some big opportunities tonight,” Johnson said. “Obviously some blown coverages again. That’s what an obviously a heavy run team does. I mean they get your eyes dancing, and our eyes were just dancing tonight. I mean, that’s just what it came down to.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales nearly upsets No. 1 DeLand; here is what we learned
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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By Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
