Fuoco: It wasn't just hype as St. John's determination sparks LCS's thrilling win

What else can you say about Lakeland Christian-Victory Christian except, it was worth the wait.

Unlike many rivalry games that often are just full of hot air in pregame hype, this one lived up to the billing — and then some.

Just the final play of regulation that sent both teams on a roller coaster of emotions and had the game tied, won or lost depending on your sideline, then tied again is just a snapshot of the wild ride that was this game.

Of course it took overtime for a team to prevail and of course it took a gamble by Lakeland Christian coach Danny Williams to decide the game. His gamble to go for the 2-point conversion and the win was simply par for the course.

The Vikings' 28-27 victory on Friday night at Southeastern's Victory Field certainly gave fans in the packed house their money's worth.

"It was great," LCS coach Danny Williams said. "Everybody got what their money was for and what they thought it would be."

Victory coach Kendrick Stewart, a former Lakeland player who played in big rivalry games, can appreciate the kind of game it was.

"It brought out the city and that's what everybody wanted," Stewart said. "It was a great game that went all the way down to the wire."

The real impact of the game was that the Vikings clinched the district title, but there's no denying it meant more to the players.

"It means a lot," LCS quarterback Parker St. John said. "It's what, 11 years in the making? It means a lot. It's very exciting."

Where to start?

How about quarterback St. John. The LCS senior quarterback was a force who willed his team to victory. His score on the two-point conversion capped the Vikings' second half comeback from 13-point deficit.

It was St. John's not-going-to-be-denied, 8-yard run that prompted Williams to call for the 2-point conversion.

"I probably wasn't going to call it if he wasn't so determined on the run before (touchdown)," Williams said. "It really wasn't there, but he made it happen. I was going to kick it, but when he made that run I was going to put it in his hands."

The decision took St. John by surprise. He wasn't expecting it, but when he heard the coaches yell for the formation, he was ready.

"I guess he wanted to take a shot at it," St. John said. "I was fine with it. I wanted to too."

St. John wasn't going to be stopped short.

"I just planted by foot and told myself, you're going to get into that end zone," he said.

As the St. John went, so did the Vikings' offense. While Jacob Allen rushed for 115 yards, including a game-tying 58-yard run in the fourth quarter that tied the score, St. John's running was key to the other three scoring drives.

Allen got things started on the first scoring drive with a 28-yard run. But on third-and-7, St. John scrambled for 15 yards down to the 11-yard line then followed up with runs of 9 and 2 yards for the Vikings' first touchdown.

Victory kept LCS bottled up until late in the third quarter, and St. John's play again was pivotal. He sparked the 80-yard drive with a 10-yard run early on a second-and-7 play.

Later on third-and-4, he scrambled for 8 yards and the first down. St. John, passed for 31 yards to got with his 78 yards rushing, made the biggest play in the LCS passing game as a receiver. He caught a 24-yard wide receiver pass and might have scored but couldn't keep his balance and was down at the 20.

St. John then capped the drive with four straight runs for 17 yards. His 5-yard touchdown cut Victory Christian's lead to 20-13 with 10:07 to play.

"He's a senior," Williams said. "You want to put the ball in your seniors hands, the guy who really wants it."

While St. John and Allen provided offensive heroics, let's not overlook LCS's defense that kept Victory's offense out of the end zone in the first half.

"In the beginning, there was some point fingers, but in the end, we really came together as a team, all of us working together," defenive end Mack Estrada said. "It's better to work as a teams than as a bunch of single individuals to win a football game."

Victory's only touchdown in the first half was when it recovered a fumble in the end zone on the second play of the game. Twice in the half, LCS stopped Victory on third down in scoring territory, and the Storm had to settle for Joel McGrath field goals of 34 and 33 yards.

But this game had it all. Special teams played a factor at the beginning and end of regulation

On the opening kickoff, McGrath's kickoff was high near the sideline and went through the hands of the LCS returner and out of bounds at the 1.

Before we get to the end of regulation, let's not overlook how Williams wasn't the only gambler on the sideline. Twice on Victory's final drive, Storm head coach Kendrick Stewart ran trick plays on a fake punts and converted each time. The first time, LCS would have had the ball inside the Victory 45 had it stopped Victory. The Storm needed 2 yards and got 2 yards.

The second time was a big play, a 21-yard pass from Jozia Scott to Marion McClendon that took the Storm from the LCS 48 to the LCS 22.

"We just believe in our guys, and we trusted the call -- twice," Stewart said. "All the chips were on the table."

Victory led time run down to 5 seconds and was going to let McGrath, who is the top place-kicker in the county and had hit two 49-yard field goals in a game this year, win it for them.

After multiple timeouts, one by Victory to get the field goal unit on the field then two by LCS, it then took three snaps to decide the final 5 seconds of regulation.

First McGrath pushed the ball left, but flags flew. Two penalties against LCS, including unsportsmanlike conduct, moved the ball to the 7.

This time, McGrath nailed the kick for an apparent Victory win, but wait, flags again. This time the Storm were penalized and the ball went back to the 20. McGrath pushed the ball left again, and this time, no flags.

The game was destined to go to overtime as evenly matched the teams were.

This was the first game between the two private school powers, and fans might not have to wait a year for Round 2. Both teams should make the playoffs so there very well could be a rematch at LCS.

"We're probably going to see them again in the playoffs, and that's when it really matters," Williams said.

But how do you top this one?

Roy Fuoco can be reached at roy.fuoco@theledger.com or at 863-802-7526. Follow him on Twitter: @RoyFuoco.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fuoco: It wasn't just hype as St. John's determination key to LCS's thrilling win