Lake County falls to Central in “Battle of Reelfoot”

 

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports

The Falcons were able to turn Friday night’s season opener into a three-quarter game, essentially, with a drive that consumed much of the first quarter in Troy. But, Central scored 27 straight points from the second through fourth quarters to overtake Lake County and pull away for a 41-20 win in the “Battle of Reelfoot”.

Despite the loss, Lake County Head Coach Hunter Short agreed the main goals are still in front of them and there are lessons to be learned from failure on a Friday night on the gridiron.

“We’re a young team, and that’s what I am trying to get these kids to understand,” Short explained. “As a man, you’re going to have bad days in life and you’re going to have to pick up the next day.

“You’ll have another day. But, we’ve still got seven more region games to play and nine more overall. That’s a long season.”

With the Falcons getting the ball after the Rebels deferred to the second half, Lake County was able to eat up all but the final two minutes of the first half even with the drive starting on their own 47-yard line. The drive was aided by a penalty on the Central defense to give the Falcons new life in the red zone. Facing a 4^th-and-6 on the Rebel 11-yard line, a short pass from Cade Lanier to Aiden Hudson picked up a fresh set of downs at the Central 1-yard line. From there, it took two plays before a Randy Demo run put the Falcons into the end zone. The two-point conversion was successful but a false start then an unsportsmanlike penalty set the Falcons back and the ensuing kick was unsuccessful leaving the Falcon lead at 6-0.

Central was able to answer back with a touchdown early in the second quarter to take a 7-6 lead with 8:42 left in the half.  

The Falcons had a response themselves after fielding an onside kick near midfield. Compared to the first touchdown drive by the green and gold, this one took really no time at all as KJ Avery scored on a 12-yard touchdown run to put the Falcons on the board again. The two-point conversion put Lake County back on top 14-7 with 6:35 left in the half.

Central gained the momentum at the half, tacking on a pair of touchdowns to go up 21-14 at the break.

On the other side of the half, the Rebels began to pull away, scoring two more touchdowns to take a 34-14 lead after a blocked PAT late in the third quarter.

Lake County was able to show some life early in the fourth quarter as Nigel Clark scored on a touchdown run with under ten minutes left in the game. The two-point conversion failed as Lake County now trailed by only two scores late in the game.

Central was able to seal the win with a late touchdown to make it a three-score game at the final buzzer.

Despite the difference in school sizes in this rivalry game, Short was quick to shift the focus away from that when asked.

“I mean, I’m sure that plays a part but the numbers game is what it is,” the Lake County head coach said. “You can make that excuse all you want but it’s always 11 vs. 11 at the end of the day.

“We’ve just got to be able to fight through adversity. We’re young.”

Due to a shortage in TSSAA officials, Lake County’s home game in Week 2 against St. Benedict has been moved to Saturday night at 5 p.m. in Tiptonville.

“Now, with it being on Saturday, it kind of changes the week,” Short said. “I’m a creature of habit and so are my children. We’ll send them home Monday on the bus then Tuesday through Thursday we’ll practice and Friday have a walk-through.”

Looking back one last time at the loss to Central, Short kept things in perspective.

“I hope people understand that it’s Game 1,” he explained. “We’re a young football team. And the end goal to all this is so much bigger than beating Obion County.”

For a physical copy of this article, look for an upcoming edition of the Lake County Banner.

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