Lake football coach Tate Hanna told his players that Kemper County was going to challenge them vertically in the passing game.
The Wildcats did just that but the Hornets were too much as they took a hard-fought 38-32 win over Kemper County on Friday night.
With the win, the Hornets are now 2-0 on the season with a pair of wins against Class 3A football teams to their credit.
Hanna said he was glad to leave DeKalb with a win over struggling to stop the Wildcats’ passing game.
“It was bad ugly,” Hanna said. “I’m just glad to get out of there with a win. A win is a win, no matter how you get it. I was proud of our effort. It was a nip-and-tuck game and we had to win it in the end. We had to stick it out and play for four quarters. I give Kemper credit, they never quit and gave us fits all night. We just made too many mistakes and Kemper took advantage of those.”
Lake forced Kemper to punt on its first possession and promptly drove 67 yards in eight plays as Brady McGee scored on a 1-yard run. The try for two failed and Lake led 6-0.
But Kemper answered right back with a 53-yard touchdown pass and tied the game up at 6-6.
The defenses tightened up in the second half and it wasn’t until 4:39 left in the first that Lake found the end zone again as McGee scored on a 2-yard run. McGee completed the two-point pass and Lake led 14-6.
But again Kemper answered right back this time with a 20-yard run to cut the lead to 14-12.
The Hornets then got the ball and went 48 yards in six plays as McGee hit Zywon Ledbetter on a 17-yard touchdown pass with less than minute to play to take a 20-14 lead into the half. Lake got the ball to start the second half and drove inside the Kemper red zone but fumbled at the 5-yard line.
The Hornets had plenty of chances to put Kemper Away as they go the ball at the Kemper 10 after the Wildcats bobbled a punt. But the Hornets turned the ball over on downs. Kemper moved the ball out from the shadows of its own end zone but a deep pass was picked off by Ledbetter and returned 80 yard for a touchdown. The try for two failed and Lake led 26-12.
Lake actually forced a Kemper punt but the ball hit a Lake player and gave the Wildcats the ball at the Lake 40. Three plays later, the Wildcats hit a 34-yard pass play to cut the lead to 26-18.
The Hornets responded with their best drive of the night as J.D. Evans scored on a 2-yard run, capping off an 11-play, 56-yard drive to go up 32-18.
But the Wildcats answered right back as they returned the ensuing kick 80 yards for a touchdown with 6:24 left in the game to cut the lead to 32-26 with the two-point conversion.
Kemper had the ball driving and got into the red zone against Lake with a big 60-yard pass play but Evans came up with an interception in the end zone and returned it 108 yards for a touchdown with 1:46 left to secure the win. The try failed and Lake led 38-26.
The Hornets had 143 yards rushing as Evan led the way with 84 yards on 14 carries. McGee was 10-of-20 passing for 132 yards as Ledbetter had 10 catches for 124 yards.
