For the second straight year, the Mize Bulldogs ended the season for the Lake Hornets.
Mize scored the first 49 points of the game and rolled to a 49-16 win in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.
Lake finishes the season with a 6-5 record.
Lake coach Tate Hanna said the visiting Bulldogs had their way with his young squad.
“It was just a good, old-fashioned butt whipping, that’s about the only thing you can say about it. We came out flat and they were better than us, no doubt. We were not sound on defense and didn’t move the ball on offense. It was a tough matchup with what they do on offense. The bottom line is they came in ready to play and we didn’t. And in the end, injuries got the better of us. I’m proud of the work and the effort the kids put in this season. They were better than a No. 3 seed. Had they been in our district, they probably would have won it.”
Lake was forced to punt in its first four possession of the first quarter. Meanwhile, Mize scored on a 9-yard run, a 44-yard pass and an 11-yard run to lead 21-0 at the end of the first.
Mize continued to pour it on as they scored on a 3-yard run, a 7-yard run and a 17-yard fumble recovery to take a 42-0 lead at the half.
“We prepared all week for the triple option but didn’t do a very good job against it,” Hanna said. “But we didn’t have the first senior on defense this week. We got a lot of young kids playing time and they will get better. We just couldn’t stop them and couldn’t get anything going on offense. Losing Jamarrion Blaylock really hurt us, especially on defense. He was the play caller over there and that really hurt us. He was our best running back on offense as well.”
Mize added another score in the third on a 3-yard run after a fumbled punt by Lake to extend the lead to 49-0.
Lake scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a 39-yard pass from Griffin Boles to Kaelyb Williams and a 66-yard pass. Jeremiah Mayers ran in both of the two-point conversions for the final score of 49-16.
On offense, Lake had 195 yards of total offense with 163 passing and 32 rushing. Mayers had 11 carries for 46 yards while Boles was 8-of-16 passing for 163 yards and two TDs. Williams had four catches for 127 yards and two TDs.
On defense, Lake was led by Williams who had 8.5 tackles and a tackle for loss while Mitez Ickom had six tackles and three tackles for loss. Mayers had 5.5 tackles while Carter Callahan had four tackles. Chris Coffee had 3.5 tackles and a tackle for loss while Landon Harris also had 3.5 tackles. Brayden Clark also had 2.5 tackles while Jondrea Ickom and Tristan Harris both had two tackles.
