LAKELAND — Lake Wales and Auburndale, in Thursday’s Kickoff Classic, showed off the talent everyone knew they had. Respective quarterback Kingston Loydd and Teo Edwards are going to be hard to stop, while Lake Wales can strike for big plays from players like Kamari Smith and Kaneilius Purdy at any time. The game in which Lake Wales prevailed 19-13 after three quarters before turning the action over to the JV for the fourth quarter, also showed where there is immediate room for improvement from bad snaps to blown coverage for Lake Wales to the inability to run the ball and inopportune penalties. Here are three takeaways from the Kickoff Classic.
Lake Wales offense heats up after slow start Lake Wales showed it can methodically drive and strike quick. On their first drive, the Highlanders were their own worst enemy. Two bad snaps accounted for a loss of 36 yards that stalled a drive after they crossed midfield. However, Lake Wales then showed it isn’t dependent on big plays. They drove 80 yards on 10 plays to score to end the first half. Smith had a 17-yard run, and Loydd completed five passes between 10 and 16 yards before Smith scored on a 3-yard run. “On the second drive, they were showing the same coverage and I knew I could do it,” he said. The score made it 13-12 at halftime. In the third quarter after a quick three-and-out on its first possession, it took one play for Lake Wales to score the winning touchdown. Purdy, a senior who is committed to UCF, grabbed a pass that could have knocked down or intercepted then broke tackles to go 84. “I’m real happy he’s here,” Loydd, a sophomore, said. “I don’t want to see him leave.” Loydd finished the day 8 of 12 for 167 yards. “ I thought. Kingston did a good job keeping his head in there, talking to his team,” Lake Wales coach Tavaris Johnson said. “He's put the time in, he's put the work in. So I think he's articulating and he's communicating well, and he showed the voice of confidence.” Purdy had five catches for 124 yards while also playing safety. Smith rushed for 50 yards on six carries. Mixed reviews on special teams for Lake Wales Smith returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to give Lake Wales a quick 6-0 lead. That made Auburndale pooch kick on subsequent kickoffs, that gave Lake Wales good field position. The Highlanders also received strong punting. However, Lake Wales failed to produce on two extra-points because of bad snaps that could have been costly had the varsity played the fourth quarter. The good and the not-so-good for Auburndale Edwards is going to be hard to stop. He completed his first seven passes for 104 yards on two scoring drives in the first half. The first drive ended with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Takeo Edwards and a 25-yard touchdown pass to down Cuyler. He finished 10 of 13 for 110 yards. Edwards also rushed for 58 yards yards on 10 carries as he kept plays alive with his scrambling ability. However, Auburndale couldn’t get its running game going as its running backs combined for 13 carries for 23 yards as Lake Wales’ defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage. In the second half, the Bloodhounds had a big play wiped out because of holding and another drive was stalled by a holding penalty and an unsportsmanlike penalty on the same play. Cooper leads Lakeland Ahnarri Cooper rushed for over an 100 yards in Lakeland’s 44-12 victory over West Broward. Cooper rushed for an 80-yard touchdown his first touchdown and later had a 45-yard run that set up a field goal and scored on a 3-yard run. Quarterback Kelin Hendrix scored on a 35-yard run Linebacker Charles Calhoun returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Takeaways from Lake Wales' victory over Auburndale; Lakeland romps