By Kyle Coppola
South Lake High Defense Impresses in Preseason Win Against Lake Nona
In a game dominated by defense, the South Lake High Eagles shut out Lake Nona 17-0 on Friday night, thanks to a stifling defensive effort and a second-half offensive surge.
Both offenses struggled early, but the Eagles broke the scoreless tie late in the first quarter when senior kicker Chris McKenna connected on a 25-yard field goal to give them a 3-0 lead. That would be all the Eagles needed, as their defense shut out Lake Nona and kept them off balance all night.
The Eagles’ secondary was stellar, led by Ahvioume Scott, who had two interceptions, and Tyger Darden, who added another. Ju Ju White, Latoriaum Akins, and Joseph Robinson also contributed to a dominant performance in coverage. The front seven consistently pressured Lake Nona quarterback, with Isaiah Desir, Jesse Barker, Jayson Vasquez, Jamar Baptiste, and Ramond Carter keeping the Lions behind the chains. Senior linebackers Tyson Williams and Chase Coello led the team in tackles.
After a sluggish first half, the Eagles offense found its rhythm in the third and fourth quarters. Quarterback Tre Kelly, Wide Receiver Keydrick Powell and Running Back Malik Holman, and Tyrese Thompson helped wear down the Lake Nona defense with a series of punishing runs. Holman and Thompson each scored a touchdown in the second half, as the offensive line began to assert control.
McKenna finished with a perfect night on special teams, converting both PATs, his 25-yard field goal, and booting four touchbacks on kickoffs.
“We were very sloppy in the first half,” says South Lake High head coach Brad Lord. “We made some adjustments in the second half on the offensive side of the ball and finally got more physical up front. We have to fix a lot of things and get ready for Nature Coast next week.”
The Eagles travel to Nature Coast on Aug. 22nd for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
