Even though Lakeside played without star quarterback Ty Jones on Friday night, Sept. 13, the Panthers had little trouble dispatching winless South Effingham 49-6 at LHS Stadium.
Jones, the CSRA’s most electrifying player this season, missed the game due to a groin injury, but Lakeside (2-0, 4-0) didn’t miss a bit, largely because senior Mi’keal Grissom ran the offense efficiently in Jones’ stead. Indeed, Grissom, usually a wide receiver, filled in ably with 79 yards rushing and 82 yards passing, completing 7-of-8 tosses.
Lakeside Coach Steve Hibbitts decided not to risk Jones playing in the Region 1, 5A game.
“We’ve had Mi’keal in the program for four years now,” the 11th-year Panther coach said. “He’s such a great kid. He hasn’t been a quarterback in two years. For him to step in and feel comfortable doing it under the bright lights, that was really fun to see. And it’s also fun to see that we have him as an option back there as well.”
Behind Grissom, the home-standing Panthers cruised to a 28-7 halftime lead. They started the scoring with a 90-yard return by senior BJ Grissom on the opening kickoff. Kicker William Brandenburg added the PAT kick for a 7-0 lead.
Then Mi’keal Grissom, moving back to wideout for a play, made it a two-score lead on a nifty 11-yard reverse. Again, Brandenburg added the PAT. That capped a 77-yard drive that consumed seven minutes and four seconds. The Panthers mixed four passes with 10 runs on the time-consuming drive.
Lakeside made it 21-0 when Jack Thexton, in the Wildcat formation, went off right end and bulled into the end zone form six yards out. Once again, Brandenburg made the PAT kick. The key play in the three-play, 49-yard drive was a 39-yard run by BJ Grissom.
Thexton scored again with 1:21 left in the half on a 2-yard plunge up the middle. Once again, Brandenburg kicked the PAT for a 28-0 cushion.
Not to be shut out, the Mustangs (0-1, 0-3) finally got rolling and scored on the last play at the half when Landyn White dove in from the 1-yard-line. His dive climaxed an 80-yard, six-play drive in just one minute and 21 seconds. Quarterback JT Barkley passed for 79 yards on the quick-strike march that turned out to be the only bright moment of the ballgame for South Effingham. Five of Barkley’s passes went to Lawton Bowen for 60 yards.
Lakeside countered quickly at the start of the second half. Mi’keal Grissom scored on a 3-yard keeper and Brandenburg’s kick made it a 35-6 Panther bulge.
Thexton would score again on a 1-yard sneak with 5:43 left in the game. Brandenburg made it 42-3 with the extra point.
The final Panther score came on 38-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass from third-string quarterback Ben Harrington to Michael Obleton. Brandenburg added his seventh PAT of the night for the final margin of victory.
Lakeside finished with 291 yards of total offense, compared to just 168 for South Effingham. Tristen Jones added 47 yards on the ground for the Panthers, who had lost to the Mustangs 22-19 last season.
“The past two years, we came up short against them,” Lakeside Assistant Coach Cedric Mason said. “We had a sour taste in our mouth from last year. They came here and beat us on homecoming. It was a close game that we lost in the fourth quarter. Tonight, we had a point to prove.”
Next week, undefeated Lakeside will play at Glynn Academy while South Effingham travels to Effingham County.
David Bulla is a professor of Communication at Augusta University.
