GROVETOWN—Lakeside defeated Grovetown 30-12 on Friday, Aug. 16, at Warrior Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
Senior quarterback Ty Jones rushed 18 times for 168 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Panthers (1-0).
Lakeside Coach Steve Hibbitts praised Jones for his play in the win over the Warriors (0-1).
“He (Jones) can take just about any play and go the distance,” said Hibbitts.
BJ Grissom added touchdown runs of 14 and eight yards for the Panthers, who outscored the Warriors 23-6 in the final half.
“BJ Grissom, our running back, made some really good cuts and some strong runs,” said Hibbitts.
At halftime, Lakeside led 7-6 behind Jones, who scored on an eight-yard run with 1:16 left in the half.
In that opening half, Jones had rushed nine times for 73 yards, as the Panthers dominated most of the run of play.
However, before he scored his touchdown, Jones fumbled deep in Warrior territory. That’s when Grovetown’s Jowell Jackson-Henriquez recovered the fumble and ran for an 87-yard touchdown. Lakeside blocked the point after attempt for a 6-0 Warrior lead with 6:19 left in the half.
Grovetown coach Corey Evans complimented his team on its play.
“You play hard every play because you never know when it’s going to present itself,” said Evans, who saw two players, Aidan Ewald and Dallas Johnson, go down with injuries.
Evans was happy to see his team improve from its scrimmage the previous week, but he said the Warriors still have some work to do.
Grovetown had one touchdown called back in the first half that could have made a big difference in the game. Jacquez Ivey raced 87 yards for an apparent touchdown with five and a half minutes left in the first quarter, but the play was called back because of a Warrior holding penalty. Still, Jackson-Henriquez’s long fumble return gave GTHS the early lead.
Down 6-0, Jones led the Panthers on an 80-yard, 11-play drive. William Brandenburg added the PAT kick after Jones’ TD run for the one-point halftime edge.
Brandenburg would also kick a 37-yard field to make it 16-6 after Jones’ one-yard run had opened the second-half scoring.
Evans’ team got back in the game when Jackson-Henriquez fired a 76-yard touchdown pass to Ivey, but the PAT failed. The were only down 16-12 at that point.
But the Panthers scored the final 14 points to put the game out of reach.
Lakeside is off next week before hosting South Aiken Aug. 30 while Grovetown travels to Greenbrier on Aug. 23.
Nayla Reese is an Augusta University student.
