Leavitt 60, Lakers 28
For the second straight week, the Lakers stunned a football heavyweight for a moment.
Lexus Rodriguez completed an impressive drive with a one-yard burst to give the upstart Lakers a 6-0 lead over top-ranked Leavitt last Friday night in Turner.
The Hornets led just 14-9 late in the second quarter as the Lakers tacked on a 25-yard field goal by Marcus DeVoe. But, Leavitt (8-1) stung the Lakers with their aerial attack (294 yards through the air), scoring twice from 21 yards out. And, the onslaught was on as Leavitt scored 30 unanswered points en route to a 60-28 victory in the Class C quarterfinals.
“Friday our guys truly came to play and went toe to toe with Leavitt for the first half,” LR Coach Brian Jahna said. “The final score was not indicative of the overall game.”
The Lakers were able to drive down the field on our first drive with the help of a tight-end seam route to Marcus Devoe that went for 54 yards followed by a one yard run by Quinn Piland.  “Marcus practiced a little this week at tight end and became the starting tight end after an injury during the school day to our starter.  He did a great job blocking and receiving at this position and had a complete game through solid defense and great kicking,” Coach Jahna said.
The Lakers drove the length of the field in three of their first four drives and had 165 yards in the first half before things made an unfortunate turn.  With two minutes left in the first half and Leavitt leading 14-9, the Lakers recovered a fumble in Leavitt’s backfield.
“After we clearly recovered the ball, the referees met and determined that an inadvertent whistle had been blown as we were falling on the ball,” Coach Jahna said. “According to the referees, by rule, the down is re-played.  This meant that not only did we not get the turnover, we also did not get the loss of yards on the sack and Leavitt got an extra down.  It was a confusing and emotional blow and we gave up two touchdowns in the remaining two minutes.  To the head referees credit, he acknowledged that it was a blown call, said it was unfair to our kids, but by rule he had no choice.”
The Lakers recovered an onside kick to start the second half, but fumbled the ball on the second play.
“From there, it was hard to keep up. Our guys were simply fatigued.  They played their hearts out all game and I couldn’t be prouder of a group of young men,” the coach said. “With 23 total players dressed on our sideline, Leavitt had more upperclassmen than we had players. However, for two weeks in a row, we faced large, physical teams and battled without fear and were even in the first half of each game.  We’re getting better and the future is bright for Lake Region football.”
Moving forward, Coach Jahna said it is critical that the program gets more kids in the weight room and sport a full squad that remains committed for the entire season.
Rodriguez (16 carries, 80 yards) had another strong night for the Lakers (2-7), scoring from 12 and 2 yards out, while Cole Jakobs (3-of-4 for 89 yards) tossed a TD pass. Senior Kyle DeSouza rushed for 124 yards on 21 carries.
On the receiving side, DeVoe had 3 catches for 67 yards, Dakota Stover 1-for-20, Nick Wandishin 1-for-16 an Nick Lepage 1-for-19. The Lakers put together a good stat line — 229 yards rushing, 122 yards passing — but turnovers proved costly.