By Scotty Blackwell
It was Homecoming night at Warrior Stadium! A fun evening filled with tiaras and touchdowns saw the undefeated Lakeside Warriors hold on for an exciting win in Sibley, LA. Big runs, amazing passes, and hard hits gave the returning Lakeside graduate classes something to cheer about as Lakeside ended a late Montgomery comeback, 26-22.
This was an exciting game! The Montgomery competition was a little more evenly matched with Lakeside than the past few games. The Tigers had some good athletes, but our Warriors are good athletes too. One of those athletes is Taron Riley. This guy showed up to play the weekend after being named a local athlete of the week. He had some huge runs that helped Lakeside get off to a great start. On the first Warrior drive, Riley, broke free for a massive run to set up a Brock Case (QB) to Noah Redding bomb for a touchdown. The homecoming crowd was loving it and the Warriors looked just like they’ve been looking…dominant.
Montgomery gets the ball back and senior running back, Jacorian Shepherd raised some eyebrows with some very impressive runs. Tiger quarterback, Mason Jordan lets a long one fly and Warrior, Eli Santelices leaps up high and steals it for an interception. Then the fun begins.
As the 1st quarter wanes and the 2nd begins, the Warriors begin to share the ball. Kentravion Miller lowers his head and gets the drive started. Big carries by Brock Case and James Maxie get Lakeside in great field position. Another big-time run by Taron Riley lights up the crowd, but just before he goes down, has the ball stripped and it goes back to Montgomery.
Not too much to worry about though, this Lakeside defense if for real! The Tigers could not get anything going against this Warriors defensive line. They force a Montgomery punt and a few plays later Kan’t- stop-Kentravion bulldozes his way for more points.
Back to more Lakeside defense…they just will not let the Tigers get going and with 1:54 left in the first half Jacobe Rankin intercepts a deep Montgomery pass attempt and sets up Lakeside for a late first half scoring opportunity. Quarterback Brock Case explodes for a big 35 yard run, then decides to run again for another 35 yarder, but this time takes it to the house for a touchdown. As the Warriors retire to “Ware”house for the half they are up big 19-0.
All the festivities were alive and well at halftime as the homecoming court was presented to the onlooking crowd. All of the ladies looked lovely at midfield as their names were called. This year’s Football Sweetheart Award was presented to senior Olivia Maxie. Lakeside senior MacKenzie Chase was crowned Homecoming Princess. And the coveted crown for the 2024 Lakeside High School Homecoming Queen was awarded to senior Naja White. Congratulations, ladies, you all make Lakeside proud.
The third quarter showed sparks of life by Montgomery, but the mighty Warriors defense was unrelenting. Each time the Tigers made some advances, Lakeside just shut them down. The Lakeside offense had some great opportunities to put more points on the scoreboard, but uncharacteristic turnovers in the red-zone prevented a larger lead from happening. Buckle up, here comes the 4th.
The fourth quarter put everyone on the edge of their bleacher. The Montgomery coaches changed up some things on offense and started to let the ball fly. Tiger QB Mason Jordan showed off his impressive arm and before you know it the Tigers put up two touchdowns seemingly back-to- back. Everyone started to get a little worried until James Maxie runs the ensuing kick off back for an impressive Lakeside touchdown, then some invisible flags started to fly.
The officials took the score off the board and moved the ball back to the 35 claiming that a Warrior was holding on the kickoff. Lakeside just needed to work a little more and with some Brock Case air-mail and a Kentravion TD run, the Warriors increase their lead 26-14. One thing is for sure, this Montgomery passing game showed Lakeside what the need to work on next and that is some tighter pass defense. The Tigers were able to pass down the field and put up another touchdown with ease, but it was too little too late. Lakeside was able to find to first downs and set up a victory formation to claim the game and remain undefeated, 26-22.
The smoke from the halftime fireworks show by Holiday Fireworks was still looming in the air as the Warrior faithful sang their alma mater and danced to their fight song as the Homecoming crowd left the stadium with grateful hearts. The game is being played with discipline, aggressiveness and passion, and it’s contagious. Let’s keep this going Lakeside…on to the next one!
It’s a great day to be a Warrior!
