Lakeland Christian falls; Auburndale, Lake Wales roll to set up showdown
LAKELAND — Calvary Christian of Clearwater piled up 545 yards of offense
Friday night and handed Lakeland Christian its first home loss in two years, 41-14.
Junior quarterback Jacob Drackett completed 22 of 28 passes for 286 yards and he was just part of the show for Calvary Christian (6-2).
Sean Cuomo ran for 190 yards and three touchdowns, and Caleb Goodloe caught nine passes and threw a touchdown pass himself.
With that kind of all-around production, both head coaches had to credit the Warriors' offensive line.
"They dominated us up front," LCS coach Danny Williams said. "They were just more physical than us."
"That's the strength of our team," said Calvary coach Reggie Crume. "We're blessed to have six offensive linemen who play very well. This is the most balanced team I've coached. We overcame a lot of adversity (penalties) tonight.
Lakeland Christian (7-1) came in ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 1S.
After Drackett completed his first seven passes, Parker Galberaith intercepted his eighth pass on a third-and-long play, setting up the Vikings at their own 46. They drove nine plays to a touchdown to take their only lead of the game, 7-6, early in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by quarterback Parker St. John.
But Calvary Christian answered with a 16-play touchdown drive to regain the lead with 5:15 left in the first half. After a quick LCS three-and-out and an interception by Riley Smith, the Warriors scored twice more before the end of the half to lead, 27-7.
LCS gained 124 total yards and ran just 40 offensive plays.
"We played a really good football team," said Williams. "Games like this will really help you in the playoffs. This was probably one of the better high school offenses you'll see."
Rare loss at home for LCS
The loss broke a 13-game home winning streak for LCS, which beat Calvary Christian 38-13 on the road last season.
The Vikings' last loss at home was a 34-28 setback against Berkeley Prep on Oct. 23, 2020.
Three turnover for Calvary Christian
Calvary Christian never punted.
Interceptions by Galberaith and Dre Hughes and a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter marked the only times Calvary Christian was stopped.
The Warriors were also penalized 16 times for 151 yards.
Auburndale 27, Davenport 0
DAVENPORT — Auburndale’s defense came up with a big shutout ahead of a huge Class 3S, District 8 showdown with Lake Wales next week.
The Bloodhounds (4-2, 3-0) will welcome the Highlanders (7-0, 3-0) to Bruce Canova Stadium with the winner claiming an automatic playoff berth as district champ.
“Since I took over we’ve always been a defense first team,” Auburndale head coach Kyle Sasser said. “The kids understand we’re counting on them. They can’t let the pressure get to them. They’re right where we want them to be defensively. Lake Wales always plays hard. If we want to achieve the season goals we have they’re just a step in the process.”
Dayrel Glover scored on runs of 60 and 6 yards against Davenport and Ja’Tavious Scaife scored from 4 yards out.
Jameson Young also caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Amari Turner.
Lake Wales 69, Liberty 0
KISSIMMEE — Lake Wales led 49-0 after the first half and cruised to remain unbeaten on the year with a road win.
The Highlanders (7-0) now head into a big Class 3S, District 8 showdown with Auburndale for the district title next week in Auburndale.
Carlos Mitchell returned a punt for a score and caught one of Trent Grotjan’s two touchdown passes in the first half.
Frostproof 56, Discovery 16
FROSTPROOF — Donavan Solomon went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season in the Bulldogs’ win in Friday night.
Solomon ran for three scores and caught another in the rout.
While head coach Rod McDowell was happy with the result, he still sees room for improvement.
“We played sloppy football and made too many mistakes tonight, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” McDowell said. “We were without several starters tonight, but we’re not making excuses. We’ve got to get better.
“Thankfully, Donavan made some really nice plays tonight with the ball in his hands. He’s having a great season.”
Nathan Jenkins and Eddie Gammage also had rushing touchdowns, and Daiveon Pittman returned a kickoff for a score.
Omarion Jackson scored on a pick-six for the Bulldogs also.
Fort Meade 35, Tenoroc 0
FORT MEADE — Carson Montsdeoca threw four touchdown passes to three different receivers as the Miners rolled past the Titans.
Montsdeoca hit Josh Porter twice and threw one score apiece to R.J. Cabrera and Markell Baker.
Jamarion Davis had the other Fort Meade score on the ground.
Next week Fort Meade (6-2, 3-0) will take on rival Frostproof (7-1, 3-0) in a winner-take-all Class 2S, District 13 showdown in Frostproof.
Palmetto 23, Lake Gibson 8
PALMETTO — The Braves fell behind early and couldn’t recover in a rough road loss.
Palmetto went up 16-0 after the first quarter, but Lake Gibson answered in the second quarter with an 8-yard rushing touchdown from Fentrell Graham. A two-point conversion run from Anthony Petersen made it 16-8, but that’s all the scoring the Braves could muster.
Jackson Akins went 14-for-25 for 175 yards for Lake Gibson.
Defensively Tristan Vann led the way with 12 tackles.
Santa Fe 38, Legacy Charter 14
OCOEE — Julian Franzino put on quite a show for Santa Fe.
Franzino scored four touchdowns and the Crimson Hawks bounced back from a loss last week with a road win.
Jose Burey had Santa Fe’s other touchdown on a 70-yard run.
“I was very proud of them,” Santa Fe head coach Clint Miller said. “We’ve got a ton of injuries, but we came out and we did what we do. We ran the ball very well. Our offensive line, they were loading the box and we still could run on them.”
Santa Fe will head into the playoffs next week against a yet to be determined opponent.
Other scores
Mulberry 37, Bayshore 0
Lake Region 28, Gateway 6
Sebring 44, Bartow 0
Canterbury 34, Oasis Christian 0
Zephyrhills 48, Kathleen 0
Hernando Christian 42, Geneva Classical 0
John Carroll 48, Victory Christian 20
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland Christian falls; Auburndale, Lake Wales roll to set up showdown
