Lakewood 28, Blake 0, Final

They say the highs aren't as high and the lows aren't as low. Yep, it's a cliché, but the Blake football team is living it.

One week after dismantling Leto, 50-0, the Yellow Jackets were humbled on their home field by Lakewood, 28-0.

Standing near the band, playing a celebratory tune, Lakewood coach Corey Moore couldn't hide his excitement – grinning and bobbing his head to the music.

"The guys came out with something to prove tonight," Moore said. "That Lakewood is a team, that we're going to try our best to pull together, play as one and be fundamentally sound and have fun playing with each other."

There was plenty of fun to be had by the Spartans inside James "Big Jim" Williams Stadium.

On its first possession of the game, Lakewood (2-0, 1-0 Class 5A-District 8) marched 77 yards, capping a four-play drive with a 17-yard, Tracy Johnson-to-Rodney Adams touchdown pass. Johnson finished the night 15-of-25 for 237 yards and 3 TDs.

Two possessions later, Johnson hit Adams again on a 15-yard slant pass for a score. A 2-point conversion pass to Marcus Bass put the Spartans ahead, 14-0, with 7:29 remaining in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, there wasn't much joy on the Blake (1-1, 0-1) sideline. In the first half, the Blake offense couldn't get much going and its defense fell prey to the Spartans' passing game. Blake managed just 38 yards of offense in the first two quarters. Of that, 30 of those yards were passing. Conversely, Lakewood racked up 229 total yards in the first half. Johnson accounted for 195 yards on 12-of-15 passing and two scores.

The Lakewood defense tallied five sacks and an interception, all of which was done without Florida State commit Dante Fowler, who was suspended this week by Moore.

"To lose tonight, no I didn't want to lose, but it was something that needed to happen so they could see that you can't live off of last week," Blake coach Harry Hubbard said. "Everybody patting you on the back, woo, 50 points, but that means nothing when you come back to play (another team). I told them, every week you have to come back and prove yourself. You have to prove yourself every week. It's a learning lesson."

Blake's second to last possession was a microcosm of its entire night. After taking over at the Spartans 16 following a bad punt snap, the Yellow Jackets penetrated to the Lakewood 4. In eight plays inside the Lakewood 16, Blake couldn't score and ended the possession on a sack, which pushed the ball back 7 yards.

"The defense played outstanding," said Adams, who finished with five receptions for 110 yards and two scores. "A goose egg on the scoreboard is great. They played an outstanding ballgame tonight."

 
L– Adams 17 pass from Johnson (kick failed)
L– Adams 15 pass from Johnson (Bass pass from Little)
L – Jones 13 pass from Johnson (kick failed)
L– Johnson 1 run (Bass pass from Little)