The Lakeside Panthers defended their home turf against cross-state foe, South Aiken Friday night, countering the Thoroughbreds’ potent rushing attack with one of their own and using tough, sturdy defense to take down South Aiken 28-19.
The first half was all Lakeside as the offense was dialing up long plays, one after the other. The Panthers’ defense was also able to minimize the Thoroughbreds’ rushing attack which tallied 350 yards in their season opener against Silver Bluff with 303 of those coming from 3-star running back prospect Jevon Edwards.
Two-way Lakeside star Ty Jones started his dominance early. From his cornerback position, Jones picked up an interception on South Aiken’s first drive and then stepped behind center to lead a 4-play scoring drive capped off by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Lathan Gardner that put the Panthers up 7-0 early.
“He [Ty Jones] is the best football player overall I have ever seen,” said Lakeside coach Steve Hibbitts. “He is just so smart with the ball in his hands.”
The Panthers’ lead wouldn’t last for long as South Aiken’s Edwards led a one-play touchdown drive. Edwards had a 55-yard run up the gut of the Panthers’ defense to tie the game at 7-7 with 7:12 left in the first quarter.
After the Thoroughbreds seemed to find a solution to the Panther’s outside run game. Jones took a quarterback draw up the middle for a 39-yard touchdown, to put the Panthers back on top with 3:23 left in the first quarter.
“We knew they had watched the film before,” Jones said. “They were trying their hardest to contain the outside runs, so we just decided to take it up the middle.”
The Panthers regained control of the ball after a turnover on downs, from an incomplete pass by Edwards, but couldn’t capitalize on the good field position after missing a 37-yard field goal attempt.
Lakeside managed to regain possession at the South Aiken 44-yard line after a forced fumble on the only pass of the Thoroughbred’s drive.
“South Aiken is a great team, and for our defense to play this way is amazing,” Hibbitts said.
The Panthers drive featured a 27-yard pass by Jones to Mikeal Grissom. Jack Thexton capped the drive off with a four-yard touchdown rush to put the Panthers on top 21-7 with 6:48 remaining in the second quarter.
The Thoroughbreds kept the ball on the ground for their next drive which featured a 53-yard rush into Panther territory by Edwards. The run however was called back to their 20-yard line for holding with 4:17 left in the first half.
The Panthers got the ball back at their 49-yard line with 3:44 left in the half. They failed to advance the ball any further than that and were forced to punt to the T-Breds with under two minutes left in the half. South Aiken was unable to move the ball leading to the end of the first half.
South Aiken’s Edwards gets warm
The second half of the game gave a glimpse of the offense that South Aiken fans saw in their season opener. However, there was not enough gas in the South Aiken tank to make a comeback.
South Aiken’s first drive of the second half featured a 7-yard 4th down run by Edwards to extend the drive into Panther territory. Quarterback, Tucker Bryan had a 10-yard run to bring the Thoroughbreds down to the Lakeside goal line.
Edwards punched in a 1-yard touchdown rush, to bring the score to 21-13 after a missed extra point, with 7:21 left on the third quarter clock.
Lakeside’s Jones was shaken up while playing defense but returned after missing four plays
The Panther’s drive featured multiple designed runs by Jack Thexton in the wildcat. However, the drive ended after Jones threw his first interception of the night trying to hit Grissom deep across the middle of the field.
South Aiken took control of the ball on their 24-yard line, and tried to establish the run with Edwards, but his seven carries in that drive only netted 22 yards.
“We knew coming in that Edwards was going to get his,” Hibbitts said. “Our goal was to contain him and limit those long runs, and I think that we did that.”
The drive was filled with penalties on both sides. The Thoroughbreds were forced to punt and pinned the Panthers on their two-yard line with 9:17 remaining in the game with the score being 21-13 in Lakeside’s favor.
Panthers run game counters South Aiken
The Panthers kept the ball on the ground and had multiple long first-down runs by Jack Thexton and BJ Grissom. Ty Jones had a 22-yard run on his own to bring the Panthers into scoring position. The drive was capped off by a BJ Grissom four-yard touchdown run to put the Panthers up 28-13.
“I would hate to have to tackle BJ or Jack,” said Hibbitts. “They are strong and smart backs, and they came up big when we needed them.”
South Aiken scored quickly on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Tucker Bryan making the score 28-19 after a failed two-point conversion.
After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt by South Aiken, Lakeside took possession of the ball at the 50-yard line, with 2:24 remaining in the game. The Panthers were able to maintain the ball courtesy of a 50-yard run by Jones into the red zone to kill any lingering hopes of a South Aiken comeback.
This is the first time the Lakeside has started a season 2-0 since 2019, which is also the last time the Panthers had a winning record. And while that’s a good thing, Hibbits says he’s not satisfied.
“I look at the record, and I still see so much improvement that needs to be done,” Hibbitts said.
The Panthers will open up Region 1-AAAAA play at cross-town rival Evans next week. Evans is also 2-0 after defeating Grovetown 38-3 Friday night.
Hibbetts says he won’t need any fancy pep talks to motivate his bunch for the next game on the schedule.
“We don’t have to get our kids up for Evans,” Hibbetts said. “They are going to have athletes all over the field just like South Aiken did.”
