Jordan Mills and Chance Cross took control of the game early for Lakeside as the freshman Rams rolled to a 39-14 victory over Hot Springs Thursday night at Tommy J. Holt Field at Joe Reese Stadium.
Mills completed 5 of 15 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns, while Cross had seven carries for 130 yards and a score to secure the conference opener for the junior Rams (2-1, 1-0 5A-South).
"This is always a high emotion game because these kids know each other, they play ball together in the summer, they hang out together," said Lakeside head coach Lewis Jolly. "I'm proud of how both teams responded. There wasn't any funny business, which is always good for both schools. I'm proud of how the kids came out. Our goal all year has been to repeat as conference champs, and you start with the first one."
Following a 20-yard pass to Chase Cross on the third play from scrimmage for the junior Rams, Mills handed off the ball to running back Noah Duvall, who carried the ball 41 yards to the end zone to put Lakeside ahead, 6-0, with 1:21 off the clock in the opening period. Andrew Degrasse took the kick, making it 7-0 for the junior Rams.
"He puts all the work in you want from a kid," Jolly said of Mills. "It was nice to see some of the balls he connected on. There was one long touchdown down here. The Hot Springs kid had great coverage. It had to be a perfect throw and a perfect catch and him and Chase Cross connected on that, which was good to see. That's what we were expecting to see Week 1. They're just getting better each week, which is what you want."
The junior Rams shut down the first two drives by the junior Trojans (0-3, 0-1), taking a 20-0 lead after a 20-yard pass to Chase Cross late in the first quarter and a 42-yard completion to Steven Cummins with nine seconds off the clock in the second period.
The junior Trojans got on the board on the ensuing drive after Alonzo Edgar ran back the kick 60 yards to the Lakeside 13-yard line. Isaac Shelor carried the ball in from the one-yard line six plays later with 5:58 left in the first half. Jercorion Johnson carried the ball in on the conversion play to pull the junior Trojans within 20-8.
"Last week, we came out and had a poor performance on special teams," Jolly said. "I'm really proud of how the coaches spent some time on it, and the kids really focused on doing a better job. Except for that one return that leaked out on us, we did a good, good job."
Chance Cross gave Lakeside a 26-8 lead at the break after a 54-yard run with 2:20 left in the half with a failed conversion.
Lakeside stretched its lead to 39-8 with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter on a three-yard run by Cash Haight, but Degrasse's kick was blocked.
Johnson found the end zone for the junior Trojans on a 63-yard pass from Shelor with 13 seconds left in the game. Shelor was blocked on the conversion play to set the final.
Noah Duvall had seven carries for 57 yards and a touchdown for Lakeside, and Haight had six carries for 44 yards and a touchdown. Chase Cross had two receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns, Cummins had one for 42 and a score and Chance Cross had one catch for 20 yards.
"Chance Cross did a good job," Jolly said. "And Noah Duvall. It's nice that we can rotate those two kids in every other play and we don't lose anything from them. They both understand what we want to do. They're a little bit different in what they do, but it's a good, good thing as a coach knowing that you can keep those kids fresh. It'd keep me up at night defensively trying to have to stop them."
The junior Rams play host to Camden Fairview Thursday at 7 p.m. at Chick Austin Field. The junior Trojans travel to Little Rock to face the McClellan junior Crimson Lions.
Sports on 09/15/2018