ASHTABULA—Lakeside scored early and often in a 53-20 win over host Edgewood at Corlew Stadium on Friday.
The Dragons ran wild as J’Shon Sanders, Elijah Jefferson, and Alec Raffa combined for six touchdowns in the game.
“We all did really really well tonight,” said Raffa. “If one of us gets a long run, another one of us can come in and finish.”
The scoring got started quickly when Raffa found a gap in the Warrior defense and capped off the first drive for the Dragons with an 80-yard touchdown run down the sideline for a 7-0 lead.
After a partially blocked punt, the Dragons had great field position for their second drive of the game. Sanders eventually followed the center into the end zone for a one-yard score to push the Dragon lead to 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
Lakeside scored again when quarterback Garrette Siebeneck sold a fake handoff, rolled to his right, and found Jimmy Timonere, who stiff-armed his defender on his way to a 15-yard touchdown catch.
The Warriors needed an answer and Christian Cunningham answered when he fielded a tipped ball off a pass from his quarterback, Tony Hall, and scored to cut the Lakeside lead to 20-6 in the second quarter.
Responding to adversity was in Lakeside’s plans tonight.
Jefferson broke off a huge 55-yard run, and the drive was finished off by Sanders, who used his size and pushed his way into the end zone leaving Lakeside on top, 26-6.
Lakeside’s defense was nearly as effective as its offense.
Angelo Collazo read Hall’s eyes and picked off a pass and took it to the house to push the lead to 33-6.
“The turnovers, the Collazo pick-six, getting the fumble and the sack, as well as pressure on the quarterback, was huge for us, especially in the second half,” said Lakeside coach Buzz Edwards.
The Warriors responded with a pair of scoring drives of their own.
Hall threw a strike to Jacob Ernst on a screen pass and Ernst did the rest. The Warriors added a two-point conversion to cut their deficit to 33-14.
Lakeside again responded, this time marching right down the field, and Jefferson found the end zone on a 10-yard run that gave the Dragons a 40-14 halftime lead.
Edgewood used a Cody Estock interception to set up a Hall to Izaiah Harris touchdown pass late in the third quarter but Lakeside gave the ball to its talented runners, who scored two touchdowns to seal their win.
“We are going to ride these backs as well as our offensive line, pound the football and just get after people,” Edwards said.
Edgewood looks to take a few pages out of Lakeside’s book as the year wraps up.
“When we watch the film, it would be a great teaching moment for our kids to know when you do things the right way, you come out and have a nasty attitude that you put all out on the field,” said Edgewood coach Olajuwon Cooper.
Lakeside closed out the regular season with a 5-4 record. According to JoeEitel.com, the Dragons are projected as the No. 13 seed in Division II, Region 5, and if the projections hold, Lakeside would travel to No. 6 Austintown Fitch in Week 11.
Edgewood finished the season 2-8.
