Lake coach Tate Hanna told his team all week long that if they could win the fourth quarter against Forest, the Hornets would be victorious.
After Friday night’s win over the Bearcats, Hanna must have seemed like a prophet.
After falling behind 13-0 in the first quarter, the Lake defense held strong and secured the win with a fourth-quarter safety and blocked field goal to take a 14-13 win over the Bearcats in a historic matchup of Scott County teams.
Hanna said he was pleased with the win despite it not being the prettiest of victories.
“First off, it was ugly,” Hanna said. “We started with a turnover and fell behind early. We gave them a short field and were down 13-0 pretty quick. We felt like if we could win the fourth quarter, we could win the game. That’s the biggest thing I was trying to do was win the fourth quarter. We had some key turnovers that hurt us, but our kids never quit and kept on fighting. Forest had like 73 yards of offense. Our defense kept us in the game and won it for us in the end. I’m proud of our kids and the way they played and pride they showed.”
Three plays into the game, quarterback Brady McGee fumbled, and Forest scooped and scored to take a quick 7-0 lead.
After swapping punt, Lake was backed up in its own end zone and managed only a 9-yard punt to give Forest the ball at the Lake 25. The Bearcats scored two plays later on a 29-yard run to take a 13-0 lead.
“I kept telling the kids that I wasn’t worried,” Hanna said. “I felt good the whole time. The biggest thing is the defense got us off the field, which was something we had trouble with the week before. We struggled on offense, but the defense got the win for us, I thought.”
Lake got on the scoreboard late in the first half as they took advantage of a short field, getting the ball at the Forest 33. Johnny Johnson ripped off a 28-yard run and McGee scored on a 6-yard run. The try for two failed and Forest led 13-6 at the half.
The Hornets tightened the game early in the second half when the Bearcats fumbled a snap on a punt to open the third quarter, giving Lake the ball at the Forest 8. Three plays later, McGee scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. The try for two failed and Lake trailed 13-12.
“We still haven’t found our identity on offense,” Hanna said. “We have to get something we can do to run the ball. We have to run the ball better. We had game planned to throw the ball, but we got two inches of rain on Thursday and field was sloppy. We want to throw the ball more but have to be able to run on nights like Friday. We have three good running backs, but we are still missing blocks up front.”
The score stayed 13-12 until late in the fourth when Lake missed a short field goal. Forest then fumbled a snap in the end zone that Lake recovered with 3:37 left to play to take a 14-13 lead.
Lake then got the ball on their own 10 and another short punt gave Forest the ball at the Lake 15. Three plays later, Forest lined up for a 35-yard field goal. A host of Lake defenders burst through the line and Tim Norris got the block to score the win for the Hornets.
“I knew they were tired and thought we had a chance to block it,” Hanna said. “Our guys were determined to block that kick. Tim did a great job of getting penetration and blocked the kick. We had a good push and had several guys come through the line. As soon as the ball was snapped, we had several guys back there.”
The Hornets had 199 yards of total offense with 93 yards rushing. McGee was 8-of 15 passing for 106 yards.
Johnny Johnson led the Hornets with 9.5 tackles while Shelton Porter had seen tackles. Devonte Rankins, Marquon Hughes and Kalvin Dinkins each had four tackles apiece.
