Lake Wales' Philipp Davis steadies ship as defense steps up when needed
FORT LAUDERDALE — Usually on championship teams there has to be somebody who can pick up the slack if specific units aren't operating as normal because of the circumstances.
For Lake Wales High School — a team that won the Class 3S state championship 32-30 over Mainland on Friday at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale ― it was senior cornerback Philipp Davis, who in the game picked off two passes and recorded six tackles.
His plays were produced in the first half when Lake Wales jumped offsides too many times, which gave Mainland too many opportunities, upping the score to 10-0 Mainland early. But Davis' instincts forestalled Mainland from scoring twice ― stopping an even bigger blow ― as the cornerback was able to intercept passes attempted in the end zone by Mainland quarterback DeMarcus Creecy.
On the first interception — Mainland's second offensive possession — Davis was able to halt a seven-play drive with 3:46 left in the first.
Davis answered the bell once again following 56-yard touchdown connection from Creecy to James Randle Jr that put Mainland up 10-0 with 4:18 to go in the second. On Mainland's fifth offensive possession, the second play of the drive and on a second-and-8 play, Davis lined up in a cover 3 and beckoned his safety to pick up the post while he eyes all-state Mainland playmaker Ajai Harrell, who ran up the sideline to the end zone. But Davis saw Harrell run in his zone before swooping in for his second interception of the day.
It was Davis that kept Lake Wales in the game to ultimately win a Class 3S championship.
"I know that we have a strong defense," Davis said. "We just push through, look at my teammates and say we got it, and we just keep each other up. There was no argument, no fighting, telling each other we got this."
The defense was able to do just enough in the second half despite jumping offsides too many times and allowing Harrell erupting in every facet of the game. This allowed Lake Wales' offense to matriculate the ball down the field thanks to senior quarterback Trent Grotjan, senior running back Corey Harris Jr., junior receiver Carlos Mitchell and senior receiver Diyante Landrum.
They got the score to 32-30 late in the game, but on the very last drive with 17 seconds left, senior defensive tackle Tavoris Jones on the last play was able to sack Creecy to win the ballgame, which was followed up by Lake Wales' fans erupting in raucous fashion.
Feeding off of the euphoric energy, Lake Wales coaches were on the sidelines dazzling the crowd, too, moving to the melody of the beat as familiar songs permeated the stadium.
Everybody was in a frenzy because Jones made the play of plays.
"I knew I was going to make this play. I was preparing for this all my life, since playing since this summer," Jones said. "When I got in the stance, I already knew what was going to happen. ... I see him, go in, and I slammed him."
Jones finished the game with six sacks and seven tackles.
Lake Wales' junior linebacker Dylan Simmons also had an exceptional interception on a Creecy screen pass in the middle of the fourth.
Lake Wales head coach Tavaris Johnson, who played at Lake Wales and went on to play at the college level, wasn't surprised his defense was able to make up for its woes in the first half, cementing a perfect season of 15-0 and a state championship in 2022 — the first-ever football state title in school history.
"We went in the locker room and said, 'Don't beat yourself. We got to win the turnover battle (and) we got to win the explosive battle — we can't make foolish mistakes," Johnson said. "Coaches, we made some tough calls tonight. We put the kids in tough situations. But they trusted us. They didn't give up."
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales' Davis steps up to help win football title
