“Every week we’ve been right there at halftime,” Farris said. “We’ve had leads at the half we just hadn’t been able to put that second half together. We knew at halftime we had to do something different this week and I’m just glad we went out and got it done.”
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Seven Lakes knows they have what it takes to compete with teams.
The Spartans have found success in the first halves of matchups this season, and have held leads going into halftime in four of their five games.
But despite that, the Spartans entered this week winless on the season and in district 19-6A play, as they had found trouble finishing games and closing out a victory in any of their prior games.
Seven Lakes (1-5, 1-3) entered this week with a sense of determination to put together a full game, to play to the best of their abilities and to come out with a win, and that’s exactly what happened on Friday night against Mayde Creek (2-5, 0-5), using a strong defensive performance in the first half and a pounding run game in the second half to come away with a 24-13 victory and get the Spartans out of the winless column.
“We hadn’t been able to put together four quarters all year,” said Seven Lakes head coach Jimmy Hamon. “We had put together some two quarter games but never a four-quarter game. We finally did that tonight and when we do that we are a good team. But the problem is everyone in this district is a good team and you can’t afford to play a two-quarter game against any 19-6A opponent. They’ve learned that and I’m proud of the perseverance they showed to stay together after those losses and come out and put together a complete game.”
Seven Lakes set the tone from the jump on its opening drive. The Spartans drove down the field after the opening kickoff to the red zone, but that drive ended with an interception, which could have derailed the Spartans early on.
But Seven Lakes didn’t let that phase them, and the defense responded by not letting Mayde Creek score before Barrett Hudson ran in a 28-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to give the Spartans the lead.
That would be the Spartans only score of the first half, but it would be all they needed as the defense led the way and Seven Lakes went into halftime with a 7-0 lead.
“We knew that we had to step up and have a good game defensively,” said senior safety Bryce Turner. “We really did that in the first half and we were able to hold them and make three and outs and keep them off the board and that was huge. It allowed our offense to go in and figure things out. We put together a real complete team game today.”
It was Seven Lakes offense that stepped things up in the second half. Hudson rushed in a 1-yard midway through the third quarter before Seven Lakes got a 36-yard field goal to make things 17-0 entering the fourth.
Mayde Creek tried to make a comeback and drove down the field and scored on a 24-yard pass from Carldell Beard to Eric Nelson, but Seven Lakes was not going to let that happen for the third time in district and the Spartans responded with a long drive that ended with a Jake Farris 7-yard touchdown run to put things out of reach.
Mayde Creek got one more score in the waning minutes on a 68-yard pass from Carldell Beard to Beau Bankston, but it wasn’t enough as the Spartans were able to seal things with an interception late in the game.
“Every week we’ve been right there at halftime,” Farris said. “We’ve had leads at the half we just hadn’t been able to put that second half together. We knew at halftime we had to do something different this week and I’m just glad we went out and got it done.”
Farris for his part rushed 111 yards and was part of a trio with Hudson and Marcel Davis that finished with 324 rushing yards in total.
The Spartans will look to continue to gain momentum and continue to wear teams out with that run when they play Jordan next week, as things only pick up from here for the Spartans.
“This was a big win for us, we needed it,” Farris said. “I wish we had already got it, but we really needed this one. Now we have to keep this momentum going through the back half of our schedule and get things going against Jordan next week.”
Mayde Creek |
0 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
-- |
13 |
||||||||||||||||||||
Seven Lakes |
7 |
0 |
10 |
7 |
-- |
24 |
First quarter
SL: Barrett Hudson 28 run (Jon Franco kick) 0:22
Third quarter
SL: Hudson 11 run (Franco kick) 5:00
SL: Franco 36 field goal, 1:30
Fourth quarter
MC: Carldell Beard 24 pass to Eric Nelson (Franco kick) 4:22
SL: Jake Farris 7 run (Franco kick) 4:22
MC: Beard 68 pass to Beau Bankston (pass fails) 4:03
Team stats
Seven Lakes |
Mayde Creek |
|
First downs |
16 |
8 |
Yards rushing |
54-326 |
19-56 |
Yards passing |
81 |
207 |
Passes |
6-16-0-1 |
10-26-2-2 |
Punts |
2-31.5 |
4-31.75 |
Fumbles-lost |
0-0 |
2-0 |
Penalty-yards |
8-62 |
3-30 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Seven Lakes: Barrett Hudson, 22-128-2; Jake Farris, 20-111-1; Marcel Davis, 11-85; Tanner Perez, 1-2; Mayde Creek: Eric Nelson, 6-33; Jerimiah Hill, 7-12; Marvin Bodden, 1-6; Tavious Mitchell, 2-5; Zaylen Cormier, 1-(-1);
Passing – Seven Lakes: Tanner Perez, 6-16-81-0-1; Mayde Creek: Carldell Beard, 10-25-207-2-2; Beau Bankston, 0-1-0-0-0
Receiving – Seven Lakes: Evan Tomalty, 1-24; Landon Ross, 2-23; Barrett Hudson, 1-15; Marcel Davis, 1-11; Luke Cunningham, 1-8; Mayde Creek: Beau Bankston, 1-68-1; Zaylen Cormier, 3-53; Eric Nelson, 4-44; Trey Williams, 2-42;