For the second week in a row, Lake Mary (2-0) surprised its opponent with a different part of its outstanding overall team balance as the defense stepped up to almost completely shut down a powerful Kissimmee-Osceola (1-1) offense in a 24-7 victory at Don T. Reynolds Stadium Friday night.
Most teams take the field fearing the Rams’ vaunted passing attack led by junior quarterback Noah Grubbs.
And while the Notre Dame commit had a decent night, completing 18-of-32 passes for 197-yards with one touchdown and one interception, a week after the running game humbled state-ranked Cardinal Gibbons, it was the defensive unit that starred on this night, holding the powerful Kowboys, who are still ranked No. 8 in the state Class 6A even after loss, without a first down until midway through the fourth quarter.
Granted, the visitors were hampered by the loss of star running back and UCF commit Taevion Swint (4-carries, 1-yard) after the second series of the game to a shoulder injury, but the Osceola offense was unable to do anything against the Lake Mary defense.
After a scoreless first quarter in which the Rams held the Cowboys to 10-yards on 10 plays, the hosts, who moved up to No. 12 overall in Florida and No. 2 in Class 7A in the MaxPreps State Polls, Grubbs completed 5-of-6 passes for 59 yards on a 61-yard drive to set-up a 35-yard field goal from Emilio Bacardi to give Lake Mary a 3-0 lead at halftime.
The Rams defense held the guests to 27-yards on 18 first half plays.
Lake Mary head coach Scott Perry and his offensive coaches made the necessary changes at intermission and the Rams took control of the contest in the second half, going 80-yards on seven plays on their first possession of the second half, with the big play being a swing pass that Carson Friedman turned into a 44-yard gain, and was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Thomas.
After stopping the Cowboys again _ they gained 1-yard on seven plays in the third quarter _ Lake Mary went on another drive over the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth with Thomas scoring again from 15-yards out to make the score 17-0 with eight minutes left in the contest.
But the hosts weren’t done as Dylan Wilson recovers a fumble to set-up a 16-yard touchdown pass from Grubbs to Tyree Weatherspoon with just under 7-minutes left.
Osceola finally gets something going on a final drive during which the Cowboys recorded their initial first down of the game and scored with just 31-seconds remaining in the game.
Up Next:
Things don’t get much easier for Lake Mary, as the Rams will host perennial power Lakeland High School (1-0), ranked No. 25 in the country, No. 5 overall in Florida and No. 2 in Class 5A, at Don T. Reynolds Stadium this Friday at 7 p.m.
