COPLEY: In a game filled with momentum, it was the visiting Lake Blue Streaks who had it last.
After a back-and-fourth 48 minutes, Lake scored with two seconds to play for a thrilling 38-35 victory over the Indians at Copley Stadium.
Lake quarterback Owen Goodheart found a wide-open Tye Hunt for a 6-yard touchdown pass for the game’s winning score to get the Blue Streaks off to a 3-0 start to the season.
“I told the kids not to give up, as we preach to keep fighting,” Lake coach Dan DeGeorge said. “Somehow we pulled it out at the end. I’m really proud of these kids.”
The Blue Streaks found themselves down 35-24 when Copley standout running back Weston Bridges scored for the third time with 1:13 left in the third quarter. They cut that deficit to five points when Joel Francis capped their next possession with his third touchdown of the game.
After the Blue Streaks forced an Indians punt with 2:16 left, Goodheart took his team 72 yards down the field in nine plays. He had two completions of 20 yards or more on the drive, including one of 33 yards on the first play.
Goodheart finished 9-of-16 passing for 144 yards and the one touchdown. Francis added 149 all-purpose yards, including 98 on the ground on 30 carries. He had scoring runs of 1 yard, 2 and 21 yards. He also had four catches for 51 yards.
As much as Goodheart and Francis factored into the game, the entire team and coaching staff had their hands on the victory.
“I’m so proud of these guys,” DeGeorge said. “It was a total team effort, and what can you say about the coaching staff and the great job they did? Copley is a good football team and they’re going to win a lot of football games.”
Facing a 10-point halftime deficit, Copley (2-1) had its own comeback to start the second half, scoring on its first three possessions to take the lead. Indians quarterback Austin Brenner had a touchdown pass and a touchdown reception in the third quarter, and his 15-yard scoring catch on a pass from Alex Zelch put Copley back into the lead at 28-24.
Brenner finished 12-of-17 for 174 yards, with Zelch, Jake Nedolast and Savion Sibley each with three receptions.
Bridges, who has orally committed to Michigan State, carried 22 times for 117 yards. Most of the yards were hard fought, as the Blue Streaks contained him most of the night.
The Blue Streaks stopped Copley when they needed it most. The biggest play came from Alex Keith, who tipped one of Brenner’s passes to himself, picked it off and took it 33 yards for a touchdown to put Lake ahead 24-14 just before halftime.
“Our defense came up with some big stops tonight. This was a great win for our program from a team that is well coached and well disciplined,” DeGeorge said.