Lake Wales overcomes poor conditions for 22-point win over Orlando Jones
· Yahoo Sports
Lake Wales used its off week to work on cleaning up its execution, and if there is to be a payoff for all that work, it wasn’t going to be Thursday night.
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Steady rain in the first half contributed to sloppy conditions, and Lake Wales and Orlando Jones combined for numerous fumbles and misplayed snaps. However, as the rain let up in the second half and conditions somewhat improved, Lake Wales’ offense came to life, while Jones’ offense stayed dormant thanks to an aggressive defensive performance from Lake Wales’ defense.
Lake Wales was able to use the better conditions to score three touchdowns as Kingston Loydd ran for a score then threw two touchdown passes in the second half to pull way for a 28-6 victory to all but officially secure the Class 4A, District 7 title.
The victory gave Lake Wales (6-1, 3-0) a comfortable lead in the district standings. The Highlanders have won more district game against winless Kathleen on Oct. 22.
Jones was briefly a threat to Lake Wales early in the second half. The Highlanders came out in the wet conditions in a wildcat offense with Kaneilius Purdy at quarterback. Trying to sneak in a surprise pass on third down, Purdy overthrew the receiver. The pass was intercepted and returned to the Lake Wales 4.
It took a couple of plays, but Osceola scored then missed the two-point conversion to make it an 8-6 game.
Purdy then returned the ensuing kickoff to the Lake Wales 45. Lake Wales moved 30 yards on four straight runs by Kamari Smith. Loydd then completed a 17-yard pass to Ja’quez Robinson. Then after an 8-yard gain by Smith and an incompletion, Loydd scrambled for a 16-yard touchdown run.
Lake Wales recovered a Jones fumble on the Tigers’ ensuing possession. Smith ran for 22 yards on four consecutive runs to set up Loydd’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Purdy.
Lake Wales added one more score in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard, Loydd-to-Purdy scoring strike.
Most of what little offense there was in the first half came from Lake Wales, and fumbles and penalties hurt both teams.
In the second quarter, Lake Wales drove to the 6 but fumbled the ball away. However, Jones fumbled the ball right back as Lake Wales linebacker Jayden Williams recovered at the Jones 15.
Smith lost four yers on first down then gained 14 to set up first-and-goal at the 5. Two plays later, he scored from the 2 with 4:46 to play in the first half.
Lake Wales missed the two-point coversion. On the ensuing kickoff, Lake Wales recovered a fumble at the Jones 38. The Highlanders could not move the ball and punted the ball into the end zone.
A poor snap by Jones went into the end zone for a safety to make it 8-0 at halftime.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales overcomes poor conditions for 22-point win over Orlando Jones