The Lake Hornets handed the Pisgah Dragons their first loss of the season on Friday night, but it wasn’t easy by any means.
The Hornets overcame a 17-7 deficit and took a 20-17 win over the Dragons on Friday night on the road.
Lake is now 3-1 on the season and has won three in a row after a season-opening loss to Pelahatchie.
Lake coach Tate Hanna was pleased with the way his team responded to the extremely large and physical Dragons.
“They are a dang good football team and do what they do very well,” Hanna said. “They were very physical, and I have been questioning about how we weren’t very physical. We were pleased that we responded to that and were physical with them as well.”
The Dragons took the opening drive and put together an 18-play drive that stalled deep in Lake territory. The Dragons booted a 40-yard field goal and took a 3-0 lead.
The Hornets answered back with a quick strike as quarterback Mickey Parker hit Zywon Ledbetter on a 56-yard touchdown. Will Burns booted the PAT and Lake led 7-3 late in the first period.
Pisgah put together another long drive, going 84 yards in 11 plays as the quarterback scored on a 10-yard keeper and the Dragons led 10-7, a lead that held until the half.
“They just kept on eating clock in the first half,” Hanna said. “It doesn’t happen very often, but they are more of a ball-control team than we are. But we challenged the front on both sides at the half to control the line of scrimmage. I thought our kids did a good job of coming out and playing a lot more physical in the second half. We changed our formation a little bit and balanced them up and it gave them some problems.”
After Lake went three-and-out on its first two series of the second half, Pelahatchie broke through the Lake defense and scored on a 44-yard pass to take a 17-7 lead.
The Hornets again went to the air as Danarrious Hughes hauled in a 32-yard pass over a Pisgah defender for a big first down. The Hornets capped off the eight-play, 80-yard drive as Parker hit Aaron Campbell on a 14-yard touchdown pass. Burns booted the PAT and Lake cut the lead to 17-14.
The Hornets forced the Dragons to punt and went right back to work on offense. Parker hit Kolin Ramzi on a 32-yard gainer. After D’Alex Jennings ripped off a 31-yard gainer, the senior running back scored on a 5-yard run. Burn’s PAT gave Lake a 21-17 lead.
“We have thrown the ball a lot better this year,” Hanna said. “It makes a difference when people are trying to stack the box on you. And we have had some kids step up and make some plays in space. Last year, we were so dependent on Mark Qualls. Our identity has changed and we have gotten better at throwing the football. We are not as one dimensional as we were and I think we are better on the offensive side of the ball because we can throw it a little bit.”
