October 21, 2024
South Lake High Eagles Soar Over Rival East Ridge, Set Up District Championship Showdown
By Kyle Coppola
South Lake High Eagles Soar Over Rival East Ridge, Set Up District Championship Showdown
Clermont, Fla. — Just days after defeating Horizon High School 20-8 in a Monday make-up game, the South Lake Eagles faced a challenging turnaround, playing two games in the same week. With only three days to prepare, they met their cross-town rival East Ridge High School, fresh off a two-week break. The Eagles rose to the occasion, securing a 24-3 victory Friday night on the road.
(Senior Running Back Malik Holman scores a 54-yard touchdown to take the lead 7-0 in the first quarter.)
South Lake (5-2) wasted no time setting the tone. Senior running back Malik Holman opened the scoring with a dazzling 54-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. East Ridge (3-4) responded with a field goal, cutting the lead to 7-3 by the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter, kicker Chris McKenna extended South Lake’s lead with a 28-yard field goal, making it 10-3 early in the third. The Eagles’ defense then tightened, highlighted by a crucial interception from defensive back Rome McKinnond. Moments later, Tre Kelly capitalized with a 32-yard touchdown run, pushing the Eagles’ advantage to 17-3 before halftime.
(Quarterback Tre Kelly was fantastic in the 24-3 victory. He looks as good as he has all season.)
Kelly struck again in the third quarter, finding the end zone for a second time, sealing the Eagles’ 24-3 victory. The defense kept East Ridge’s offense in check throughout, maintaining control of the game and keeping their rivals out of the end zone.
South Lake head coach Brad Lord commended his team’s resilience after a demanding week. “Our team handled the adversity from Monday and stayed focused on the task at hand,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to clean up before hosting a very talented and experienced Lake Minneola team for the District Championship this Friday night at Eagle Stadium. We’re hoping the whole community comes out to support our Eagles, who have worked so hard this year.”
The Eagles now turn their attention to a highly anticipated district championship clash against Lake Minneola on Friday night at 7 p.m.
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.
