Lakeland football rolls over Concordia

Lakeland capped off a festive Homecoming week last Friday night with a 32-14 varsity football triumph over Fort Wayne Concordia.

The non-conference win kept the Lakers unbeaten at 8-0. Coach Keith Thompson’s squad will attempt to finish the campaign perfect and clinch an outright NECC championship this Friday when it travels to Churubusco, which also stands 7-0 in league play.

A pair of Devin Dimos touchdown runscovering two and 25 yards late in the second quarter staked the Lakers to a 12-0 lead over the Cadets. But before the halftime festivities could begin, Concordia hit paydirt on a 14-yard pass from David Morrison to Marq Rogers, slicing the Lakeland advantage to 12-7.

Momentum switched back to the Laker side in the third period when Joey Fuller scampered into the end zone from seven yards out. Less then two minutes later, Logan Owens scooped up a Concordia fumble and raced 62 yards for a touchdown to put the hosts ahead, 26-7.

Kiel Hunter put the final Laker points on the board with a one-yard touchdown plunge with 2:25 left in the contest.

Fuller gained 102 yards on 22 carries to lead a Lakeland ground attack missing its top rusher, Cory Troyer. Dimos chipped in 77 yards on 16 attempts.

In addition to his fumble return for a score, Owens picked off two passes and led the Laker defense in tackles with four. Zac Paxson also made an interception for the winners.

GAME SUMMARY

Lakeland 32

Ft. Wayne Concordia 14

Scoring by quarters

  FWC     0     7     0     7     -14

   LL        0   12   14     6     -32

First Quarter

No scoring

Second Quarter

LL—Devin Dimos two-yard run, kick failed (4:16)

LL—Dimos 25-yard run, run failed (2:46)

FWC—Marq Rogers 14-yard pass from David Morrison, Andrew Wick kick (0:58)

Third Quarter

LL—Joey Fuller seven-yard run, run failed (7:21)

LL—Logan Owens 62-yard fumble return, William Kelly run (5:55)

Fourth Quarter

LL—Kiel Hunter one-yard run, kick failed (2:25)

FWC—Zach Rekeweg two-yard run, Wick kick (1:50)

TEAM STATISTICS

                        FWC             LL

First Downs      14                  15

Rushing Yds.    33                203

Passing Yds.     147                   1

Total Yards       180               204

Total Plays       57                  59

Turnovers         4                      1

Penalties           3-19           4-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

FWC—Hicks 13-56; Rekeweg 1-2; Sparks 1-(-10); Morrison 9-(-15)

LL—Fuller 22-102; Dimos 16-77; Bender 6-38; Owens 2-5; Hunter 1-1; Lozano 2-(-2); Aldrich 2-(-8); Kelly 3-(-10)

Passing

FWC—Morrison 12-32, 147; Sparks 0-1, 0

LL—Kelly 1-5, 1

Receiving

FWC—Rogers 6-68; Poore 2-32; Williams 1-24; Hicks 1-18; Minich 1-5; Morris 1-0

LL—Aldrich 1-1

Tackle Leaders

FWC— Williams 9.0; Fairfield 6.5; Bickel 5.5; Perugini 4.5

LL-- Owens 4.0; Aldrich 3.0; Leary 2.5; Weber 2.5; Moore 2.5