Lakewood turns it on in the second half to secure win over Gibbs in the inaugural Mayor’s Cup
By Chris Girandola
ST. PETERSBURG – It was billed as the Mayor’s Cup High School Football Classic.
But for a majority of the first half in Thursday’s contest featuring Gibbs and Lakewood, neither team seemed as if it wanted to put on a performance worthy of a classic.
Despite Gibbs forcing a fumble on Lakewood’s first play of the game and a subsequent 35-yard touchdown pass from Devontay Williams to Maurice Hall, most of the first half trudged along with a plethora of penalties by both teams and a lackluster performance on the offensive side of the ball. Even the 76-yard final drive by the Spartans before halftime that was capped by Martez Anderson’s 3-yard touchdown run could not put a shine on the combined minus-38 rushing yards by both teams and the 108 total yards in penalties in the first half.
Things heated up in the second half, though, with the Spartans capitalizing on the big play capabilities of their quarterback and wide receivers as Lakewood overcame a feisty Gladiators defense to secure a 27-7 win in front of a sold-out crowd at Gibbs. With the win, the Spartans (5-0) remain atop the 5A-8 standings with a 4-0 district record, while the Gladiators fall to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the district.
Lakewood junior quarterback Tracy Johnson completed 13-of-29 passes for 306 yards. Three of his passes went for long touchdown plays with a 48-yard toss and a 79-yard connection to junior receiver Rodney Adams and a 19-yard hookup with junior wideout Marquez Valdes (5 receptions, 82 yards).
“Our guys weren’t used to the type of man defense they were playing in the first half so we had to make some adjustments at halftime,” said Johnson, who also had two interceptions (both to Gibbs defensive star Gary Simon). “As the game went on, (the receivers) got used to the defense and I just had to put it out there for them. The plan was to just keep going to the go route.”
The plan worked out nicely at just the right time for Lakewood when Simon had to leave the field for a few plays after returning a kickoff 75 yards to the one-yard line. The Spartans had just taken a 12-7 lead three plays into the third quarter on the 48-yard strike from Johnson to Adams along the sidelines in front of the Lakewood bench when Simon seemed to get Gibbs back in the game with his electrifying run.
The Gladiators failed to register any points when three straight runs resulted in a loss of yardage and a fumble on third down. With Simon still nursing some soreness he suffered on the return, the Spartans took advantage of his absence on the field when Johnson called an audible and lofted a perfect pass to Adams along the same sideline as his previous touchdown for a 79-yard score.
“We were getting set to run a run play and I looked over and saw Gary was out and that’s a great cornerback right there and we just changed the play up at the line and put it out there on a fly,” Johnson said.
With the two-point conversion, the Spartans took a 20-7 lead and essentially vaporized any chance for a Gibbs upset.
“When our defense stopped them like that right after we scored, that was a huge turning point for us because once our offense gets going, it’s hard to stop us,” said Johnson.
Shortly after the big play by Johnson and Adams, Lakewood junior defensive back Shaquill Griffin came up with the first of his two interceptions off of Gibbs quarterback Devontay Williams. Three plays later, Johnson found Valdes in the right corner for a 19-yard score to give the Spartans a 27-7 lead that sealed the win.
While Lakewood ended up looking quite impressive on both sides of the ball, injuries sustained by several key players on the Gladiators’ roster, both before and during Thursday’s game, lessened the chances of Gibbs enduring the type of pressure it faced throughout the game. With Lakewood star defensive linebacker Dante Fowler (six tackles, one sack) back in the mix following his team suspension, the Spartans blitzed early and often
After the big pass by Williams, Lakewood held Williams, who replaced the injured Devontae White (torn ACL), to 4-of-16 passes for minus-4 yards with two interceptions. In addition, junior running back Adrian Johnson, who was starting in place of Emmanuel Stewart (torn ACL), sustained a severe injury late in the first half.
Johnson was out of his game clothes after halftime and was on crutches in the second half. Johnson said the trainers told him it was probably a torn ACL or MCL on his left knee.
“Of course, I’m not about to chalk up anything to excuses or anything like that, but it’s a case of us starting the season so well and then taking a step back with a certain injury and then working our way back up and then after another injury,” Gibbs coach Antonio Knox said. “It’s tough, but our team is young for the most part and it’s teaching them about adversity and how to deal with it. But of course, it would have been nice to have our full set of players to see what we could have done.” VIDEO AND MORE HERE
Sideline notes: USF defensive ends coach Vernon Hargreaves was in attendance to watch Gary Simon and Dante Fowler and said the two are “obviously high on our list.” He also came away impressed by the skill set of Adams and Valdes…Simon said he will begin taking official visits soon, but will wait until after basketball season to make his decision. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Simon, who plays point guard and shooting guard, said he is serious about wanting to play both sports in college and hopes to secure a scholarship at a school that will grant him that wish…Knox said Williams may have suffered some type of injury to his left knee. The quarterback was icing it on the bench for the last five minutes of the game.
