Published: October 31, 2007 11:37 am            

Lake upends Newton

NEWTON — Lake football coach Bill Ingersoll told his team after the game that he was getting too old for those fiery halftime speeches.

But apparently he’s still pretty good at them.

Lake scored two second-half touchdowns as the Hornets overcame a 12-8 halftime deficit to take a pivotal 22-12 win over Newton Friday night at E.L. Morgan Field.

With the win, Lake improves to 5-4 on the season and 3-2 in 5-2A play. The win assures a playoff spot for the Hornets, who will host Scott Central in the regular-season finale. Newton falls to 4-5 and 2-3 in 5-2A and will travel to Forest next week.

“We were actually looking forward to playing Newton,” Lake coach Bill Ingersoll said. “We knew it was going to a physical game. We’re tired of seeing those finesse, spread-it-out teams. I was worried about us coming out flat after last week and it seems like we did. Newton really took it us early. Coach Moore has done a good job with them. They have come a long way.”

Newton stormed out of the gates behind the strong running of Brandon Gill. After Gill ripped off nine on the opening play, he broke free on a 37-yard run. Then on fourth down, Kevin Harris called his own number and scored on a 19-yard run with 10:12 left in the first period. Gill’s try for two failed and Newton led 6-0.

“We were able to pop some big runs early,” Moore said. “We had a good surge going up front in the second half and Brandon popped some good runs. We had opportunities to score more points early and didn’t take advantage of those opportunities.”

The Hornets answered right back with a seven-play, 65-yard drive. Timothy Bridges, who had a big 29-yard run on the drive, scored on a 3-yard run with 7:18 left in the first quarter. David Murray passed to Nigil Horton for the two-point conversion and Lake led 8-6.

The Hornets gambled on its next possession, failing on a fourth-and-1 from their own 34.

Newton took over at the Lake 32 and needed only five plays to find the end zone as Gill scored on a 4-yard run with 1:32 left in the first quarter, a lead that held until the half.

After swapping punts in the third quarter, Lake started to get its offense going.

The Hornets drove 42 yards in six plays as Jeremy Johnson scored on a 1-yard run with 3:41 left in third. Bridges scored on the 2-point conversion and Lake led 16-12.

“We had a little heart-to-heart talk at the half,” Ingersoll said. “We were making too many mistakes in the first half. But we corrected those things at the half and our offensive line basically took over the game. They did a much better job of picking up their blitzes. When our line blocks like they should and our back run like they can, we are going to eventually break some big runs.”

The Hornets added a game-clinching score late in the fourth. Taking over with 7:18 left in the game, Lake chewed up the clock with an 11-play drive in which the Hornets converted two third-down conversions. Then on fourth-and-6 from the Newton 26, Bridges broke loose on a 26-yard run with 1:33 left in the game. The try for two failed and Lake led 22-12.

Lake had 290 yards in total offense and 13 first downs, led by Combs with 133 yards on 18 carries while Bridges had 114 on 15 carries.

Newton had 210 yards of total offense with eight first downs. Gill led the way with 119 yards on 16 carries.

        

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