After their 20-day hiatus due to Hurricane Helene, the Lakeside Panthers got back into action Thursday night with a 28-14 home Region 1-AAAAA win over Greenbrier.
The Panthers now hoist a 6-0 record for the first time in school history, and the record is tied for the second longest winning streak in school history.
You’ll have to go back to 2009 to find the last time Lakeside won six games in a row and even further to find the school record of wins in a row, which is seven, done in 1993. They can tie that Monday when they take on Effingham County.
So that is what’s on the table for this Panther team that has handled pretty much everyone on their schedule.
Head Coach Steve Hibbitts, who is in his 11th season at Lakeside, knew this team could be one of the best he’s had.
“I saw this team had the potential (in the offseason), and they did,” Hibbitts said. “This is the most mature group of guys that I’ve been around. They prepare for each game, literally as I was talking to them after this one, they were ready to go and get ready for Monday.”
A diverse scoring machine
Before moving onto Effingham County, let’s talk about this win over Greenbrier.
It was a war for three and a half quarters before Lakeside and quarterback Ty Jones proved to be too much for a tough, young Wolfpack team.
The offense took a while to shake the rust off as it didn’t score until the third, but they didn’t even have to rely on it to score points as Jones housed a 90-yard punt to shake things up early.
Jones’ diversity as a football player rubs off on the entire team, and that’s what makes this team so tough — it’s all of the different ways it can beat you.
The return was just one of Jones’ three touchdowns. The other two came on long runs of 29 and 36 yards.
Jones more than physical talent
Though Jones is arguably the most physically gifted football athlete in the CSRA, Hibbitts wanted to brag on his mental ability.
“His athletic and physical ability is awesome, but it’s not even that,” Hibbitts said. “He is a great leader and smart as anything. On the field, he is going to take charge, and that’s really the fun part of coaching him and being a part of what he’s doing.”
You could talk for days about how fun, exciting and explosive this offense is, but the most underrated unit on Lakeside’s squad is its defense.
It has only allowed 10.5 points per game so far, and if you take away a few big plays — which are a given in high school ball — that number is even lower.
Middle-linebacker Jack Thexton leads the defensive charge, and he had himself a game Thursday night, scoring a touchdown at quarterback in the wildcat formation and then intercepting a Greenbrier pass to end the game with two minutes to go.
When you look around the field all you see is talent and determination from Lakeside, they are well-coached and control the game in every facet.
Looking at their schedule, there is a legitimate chance for this team to go undefeated and win the region. The Panthers already have a leg up on most teams with a 4-0 in-region record.
Their toughest stint of the season will be this upcoming calendar week as they host Effingham on Monday, Oct. 14 and then travel to Brunswick a few days later on Friday, Oct. 18.
The Brunswick matchup is going to be one of the biggest in the state with region title implications and postseason seeding on the line. Brunswick sits at 5-1 and tied with Lakeside at 4-0 in the region. MaxPreps has the Pirates slated as the No. 40 team in Georgia, regardless of classification. The winner of that game will almost certainly claim region championship bragging rights and a No. 1 seed in the Class AAAAA playoffs.
Greenbrier’s improvement continues
On to the Greenbrier team that is feisty and has made more noise than anyone outside its own camp expected in year one under head coach Sean Tiernan.
With the loss, the Wolfpack is now 2-3 overall and 1-2 in region play.
Of course, there are no moral victories, but let’s dive into those losses for a second to show you how improved this team is.
Their first loss came by one point, as the ‘Pack lost on a failed two-point conversion against undefeated Harlem, which is also considered the No. 1 team in GHSA’s Class AAA. Greenbrier’s second setback came at the hands of that aforementioned Brunswick, which is ranked third in Class AAAAA. That loss came by just a touchdown.
Then Thursday night’s loss to Lakeside came against the 10th-ranked team in the state.
All told, Greenbrier has three narrow top-10 losses, and not many teams in the state can say they’ve played that hard of a schedule, let alone be competitive.
No moral victories
Tiernan’s staff has this team prepared each and every week, and it shows with the product they put on the field.
From my experience, this is one of quickest turnarounds I have seen. From 1-9, a year ago, to already two wins and likely more to come, but Tiernan isn’t satisfied.
“We’ve won two games, we have not arrived yet,” he said. “We’re going to get better. It ain’t there yet, so ain’t nothing going to be given to us. Everything has to be earned by our guys. That’s what we’re preaching over here at Greenbrier.”
Honestly, if you’re a Wolfpack, you could not be more excited for what the future has to offer. Tiernan’s reluctance to rest on their laurels should be proof that Greenbrier has found their guy.
After Thursday night, he expressed pride in his team’s efforts and took some of the blame for the loss as well.
“We’re playing our butts off, our kids are playing hard, and that’s on me,” he said. “I didn’t do a good job of calling plays [on] a few of them drives, and that’s on me.”
Greenbrier will take on Bradwell Institute in its next game on Tuesday, Oct. 15. and won’t have much time to rest as it clashes with Effingham County on Friday, Oct. 18.
