The Lake Hornets came out and took care of business on Friday night as the manhandled the Clarkdale Bulldogs.
Lake jumped out to a 26-0 lead and cruised to a 46-12 win for their second straight win of the season.
Second-year Lake coach Tate Hanna was glad to see his veteran team come out and take care of business early.
“I thought we did a good job of coming out and taking care of business,” Hanna said. “We were up three touchdowns pretty quick and they hadn’t run but a few plays. I thought we did a good job of getting ahead. We got a little sloppy in the second quarter and that’s going to happen at times. But we finished strong with a couple of touchdowns and the junior varsity guys played all of the second half.”
Clarkdale got the ball first but fumbled on the first play and Lake’s Shelton Porter recovered at the Clarkdale 36. Five plays later, Mickey Parker hit Kolin Ramzi on a 24-yard touchdown pass. The PAT failed and Lake led 6-0.
Ramzi got right back in the action when he recovered the ensuing kickoff, giving Lake the ball at the Clarkdale 26. Three plays later, D’Alex Jennings scored on a 23-yard run. Will Burns booted the PAT and Lake led 13-0.
The Lake defense struck again when Zywon Ledbetter recovered a Clarkdale fumble and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown. Burns’ PAT was good and Lake led 20-0 midway through the first quarter.
After forcing a quick Clarkdale punt, Lake went 61 yards in just three plays as Ethan Gray scored on a 36-yard run. The PAT failed and Lake led 26-0.
“One thing we talk about every week is the offensive line stepping up and they did that,” Hanna said. “Ethan ended up with 190 yards rushing and the line did a good job of dominating the line of scrimmage. We threw the ball early and made some plays there. That’s something we are getting better at. We have to be able to get the ball to our playmakers so they can make plays.”
Clarkdale did score in the first half as they broke a 90-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 26-6.
The Hornets added two more scores in the first half as Ledbetter returned a punt 36 yards for a touchdown and Gray scored on a 23-yard run as the Hornets took a 39-6 lead into the half.
With the starters on the bench in the second half, the Hornets took the opening drive and went 64 yards in 11 plays as Cornelius Mayers scored on a 7-yard run. Burns’ PAT was good and Lake led 46-6.
“I thought our No. 2 did a good job with their No. 1s,” Hanna said. “They work their butts off in practice and deserve to play. We play a jv schedule but it means more when you play on Friday night. It was good for those guys to get to play as much as they did. It makes practice go a lot easier.”
