It wasn’t exactly the start that Lake coach Tate Hanna was looking for when the Hornets traveled to Heidelberg on Friday night.
The Hornets fell behind 14-0 but scored 28 unanswered points to take a 28-14 win over the homesteading Oilers on Friday night.
With the win, the Hornets improve to 3-0 on the season and enter into a bye week. They will come back after the bye and face Choctaw Central.
When the Hornets fell behind early, Hanna had mixed feelings about his team.
“With this team, I was worried but I wasn’t worried,” Hanna said. “I knew the defense was going to make a stand. They weren’t that good on offense and I thought we could hold them. So far, we have started slow and looks like we are a second-half team. Again, we have to get better on the offensive side of the football.”
The Lake defense got some help early with a pair of interceptions as Johnny Johnson and Kalvin Dinkins got picks.
Heidelberg finally found the end zone after a short punt and personal foul by Lake gave the Oilers that ball at the Hornet 19. Four plays later, the Hornets scored on a 2-yard run. The try for two was good and Heidelberg led 8-0.
On the ensuing possession, Lake’s Brady McGee threw an interception that was returned 40 yards for a touchdown. The try for two failed and Heidelberg held a 14-0 lead.
The Hornets then went down and drove 53 yards in four plays as McGee hit Cornelius Mayers on a screen pass that the sophomore running back turned into a 47-yard touchdown. The PAT was blocked and Lake trailed 14-6 at the half.
“I think scoring right before the half was really big,” Hanna said. “Cornelius made a big play for us. Brady didn’t have a great game. He thinks he can throw the ball anywhere which is good and bad. That’s a great attitude to have but sometimes it can hurt you. But Brady learns every week from what he does and I only expect the offense to get better.”
The Hornets pulled closer in the as they got the ball to start the second half. The Hornets went 61 yards in four plays as McGee hit Zywon Ledbetter on a 32-yard touchdown pass. The try for two failed and Heidelberg led 14-12.
After a series of punts, Lake finally took the lead early in the fourth quarter as Johnson capped off a seven-play, 55-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. McGee ran in the two-point conversion and Lake took its first lead at 20-14.
Lake’s last score came after an interception by Marqoun Hughes that gave the Hornets the ball at the 23. Six plays later, Mayers scored on a 5-yard run. Johnson ran in the two-point conversion and Lake led 28-14.
Lake had 216 yards of total offense as McGee was 7-of-14 passing for 139 yards. Ledbetter had three catches for 60 yards. J.D. Evans led the rushing attack with 47 yards on 11 carries. Mayers had 44 yards on 15 carries.
On defense, Johnson had 10.5 tackles with an interception. Shelton Porter also had nine tackles in the game.
