Lakeside dominated Evans in a lopsided 21-0 win on Friday, Sept. 6.
Last week after the Panthers game versus South Aiken, Lakeside head coach Steve Hibbitts spoke highly of his players, commenting that they can be pretty close to unstoppable if they are clicking in the run game.
“It was good in spots, but we still have to clean it up,” Hibbits said. “We need to be where we can just say, we need to run five minutes off clock and go do it. There were a couple of times where we wanted to do that tonight and didn’t, but we are getting there.”
Neither team scored in the first quarter as the defenses were strong, and the rain began to get harder throughout the game.
The Panthers scored a one-yard rushing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 4:53 remaining in the half.
After a quick stop on defense, quarterback Ty Jones connected with Solomon Humphrey for an 87-yard touchdown, making the score 14-0 going into halftime.
Evans went on a long drive looking to get on the board in the third quarter, but Tyler Wallace’s kick was blocked to keep the Panthers lead at 14-0.
Lakeside’s Ty Jones put a stamp on the game, returning the Knights punt 70-yards for a touchdown.
“I just don’t like to go down. When I get the ball in my hands, I do everything in my willpower not to go down and help my team win,” Jones said.
The Evans and Lakeside rivalry game has been tight for years with both games the last two seasons being decided by one point. Lakeside has not shut out Evans since 2011, when the Panthers won 17-0.
“They hit all the defensive gaps like they needed to, the defensive staff did great job with all the formations and making sure guys are in the right spot. Against a team like that, they will exploit you if you’re in the wrong spot,” Hibbitts said.
Lakeside now moves to 3-0 and will play 0-2 South Effingham at home next Friday, Sept. 13. Evans is now 2-1 and will travel to 2-1 Brunswick next Friday as well.
Christopher Rickerson, an Augusta University graduate, has covered area sports for Augusta University, The Augusta Press and Augusta Good News. Subscribe to the Augusta Good News newsletter here.
