Five first-half possessions. Five touchdowns. A fifth straight league title.
Second-ranked Lakes powered past Auburn Mountainview, 63-7, and clinched the SPSL 3A championship Thursday night at Auburn Memorial Stadium.
“We’re not done,” senior Zach Banner said. “We’ve got one game left. We want to be undefeated league champions.”
The Lancers’ high-scoring output seemed to make them a cinch to shatter the league scoring record (438 points) it set in 2009. With one regular-season game remaining, Lakes has scored 437 points.
“We’re very explosive, have a lot of weapons and guys that can score from anywhere on the field,” Lakes coach Dave Miller said. “When we execute there’s always something that’s there.”
In the first half, Lakes (8-0 overall, 4-0 league) piled up 404 yards of offense – for a 49-7 halftime lead – and averaged 19.2 yards per play. The Lancers’ first two drives started inside their own 5-yard line and each resulted in touchdowns. Keegan Love’s 57-yard pass from Cedric Dozier set up the first score and Charles Hall Jr.’s 69-yard run preceded Levonte Littlejohn’s 17-yard touchdown scamper.
The Lancers finished with 592 yards of total offense. Quarterback David Wood completed 9 of 12 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns.
Lakes scored seven touchdowns in the first half, getting a pair of defensive scores. Ma’ne Manaea and Hall Jr. returned interceptions for touchdowns in the second quarter.
The only time the Lancers were stopped came late in the fourth quarter, when assistant coaches deterred Zaheer Webb and Banner from dousing Miller with water from a Gatorade bucket.
“We got him last year after the last regular season game,” Banner said. “We’ll get him next week.”
Lakes had a 21-0 lead when Auburn Mountainview found the end zone. On fourth-and-goal at the 20, quarterback Domenic Rockey found J.J. Lacey in double-coverage for a touchdown. A 44-yard run from running back Victor Korchemniy, who finished with 128 yards on 32 carries, set up the score.
Rockey completed 17 of 33 passes for 96 yards.
The Lions (5-3, 2-2) can clinch a spot in the Week 10 state play-in round by beating Decatur next week.
NARROWS 4A
At Gig Harbor 42, Shelton 6: The Tides secured a postseason berth with the win over the Highclimbers. Gig Harbor quarterback Garrett Gallinger threw for three touchdowns in the first half, and Gig Harbor also got a pair of defensive scores to jump out to a 35-0 lead at the break.
NONLEAGUE
At No. 8 Kentlake 58, Emerald Ridge 26: The SPSL North champion Falcons erupted for a season-high 58 points in the nonleague game at French Field.
Doug Pacey: 253-597-8271 doug.pacey@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/preps Twitter: @DougPaceyTNT
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