Published: October 15, 2008 05:35 pm            

Lake gets first win of season

NEWTON —

The first win of the season is always the toughest to get, just ask Lake coach Jason Williams.

Lake broke open a 20-15 game at the half and took a 41-23 homecoming win over Noxapater Friday night to give Williams his first win as a head coach.

Lake improves to 1-6 on the season and will travel to Forest this week.

“We won, that’s the main thing,” Williams said. “I thought our kids played much better than they have been playing. I was glad for them to get a win, it’s been a long season. I’m glad they got them a win and now at least they know what it’s like to get a win. We emptied the bench in the fourth quarter and a lot of young kids got to get some good playing time and that’s always important.”

The Hornets had a big night on offense, rushing for 324 yards and throwing for another 19 with senior Gary Cooksey leading the way with 119 yards on nine carries.

“I thought we did a good job of running the football,” Williams said. “The fullback trap was there whenever we wanted it and Cooksey ran the ball hard and had some big plays for us.”

But the story of the night for the Hornets was defense and special teams. The Hornets, led by Donatello Pittman, blocked two punts and forced a fumble on a punt that led to a touchdown.

“Defense and special teams kept us in the game,” Williams said. “I was proud of those guys because we have struggled on special teams this year and it’s not often that you block two punts in one game. We returned one of those punts for a touchdown and also had an interception and even made an extra point.”

Lake got on the board early when Pittman blocked a punt at the 6:35 mark in the first quarter, setting the ball up at the Noxapater 10. From there, Cookey ran it in for a 10-yard touchdown run. The PAT failed and Lake led 6-0.

Noxapater answered back as they broke a 75-yard run that set up a 7-yard touchdown run with 5:06 left in the first quarter. The PAT was good and Noxapater led 7-6.

It didn’t take Lake long to respond as Cooksey broke a 41-yard touchdown run with 4:11 left in the first. Cooksey ran in the two-point conversion and Lake led 14-7.

The offenses for both teams stalled most of the second quarter before Juwan Gray got loose on a 58-yard run with 1:50 left in the half for a 20-7 lead.

Lake blocked another punt right before the half but Noxapater picked the ball up and got a first down after an inadvertant whistle. The Tigers then hit a 40-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds left in the half to make the score 20-15 at the half.

In the third, Lake jumped out to a 13-point lead when Dwayne Gammage returned a punt 52 yards for a score with 5:38 left in the third to make the score 28-15.

On the ensuing possession, Noxapater fumbled the punt attempt and Patrick Yarbrough recovered it for a touchdown with 3:53 left in the third for a 34-15 lead.

It didn’t take long for Lake to get the ball back as Jerry Earnest got his second interception of the year and returned it to the Noxapater 4. From there, Charles Bell scored on a 4-yard scamper with 3:30 left in the third. Cole Ballard booted the PAT and Lake led 41-15.

Noxapater added a long scoring drive in the fourth for the final margin.

After Cooksey’s 119 yards, Gray had 73 yards on six carries while Bell had 42 yards on eight carries. Marcus Ricks led the defense with 10 tackles and a sack while Pittman had eight tackles and two blocked punts.

        

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