By Kyle Coppola
South Lake Holds Off Boca Ciega 28-22 for Second Straight Win
The South Lake Eagles defeated Boca Ciega 28-22 on Friday night at Eagle Stadium, securing their second consecutive victory in a hard-fought contest that tested the team in the second half.
South Lake High senior quarterback Tre Kelly connected with Sam Wood on a 59-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter to open the scoring. The Eagles’ defense dominated the first half, keeping the Pirates out of the end zone behind strong performances from Quoy Nelson, Anthony Johnson, JD Lovelace, Brian Bedingfield, Sam Amarista and PJ Davis.
South Lake had a key defensive stop late in the second quarter that gave the Eagles the ball at midfield. Runs by Wood and Kelly drove the offense into the red zone, where Kelly found senior wide receiver Kyson Cleveland for a 14-yard touchdown pass, giving the Eagles a 14-0 halftime lead.
“We played really solid football in the first half,” Head Coach Brad Lord says. “Our defense was physical and disciplined, and the offense made the plays when we needed them. That 59-yard strike from Tre to Sam got us going, and the stop at the end of the half was huge. It put us in position to go up two scores.”
To open the third quarter, senior Willie Dixon returned the kickoff 86 yards to the Boca Ciega 2-yard line. Tre Kelly would plunge in from there to extend the lead to 21-0.
While the game was going South Lake’s way, a costly penalty then gave the Pirates excellent field position, and they scored just 19 seconds later to make it 21-7.
South Lake responded with another methodical drive featuring strong runs from Kelly and Wood. Kelly capped it with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Dixon, pushing the advantage to 28-7 midway through the third quarter.
“Willie is such a dynamic athlete,” Lord says. “That kickoff return changed the momentum right away, and then he comes back and makes a great catch in the end zone. Those big-play guys are difference-makers for us.”
Mistakes began to plague the Eagles in the second half. Penalties and miscues allowed Boca Ciega to score again before the end of the third quarter, narrowing the gap to 28-14.
Early in the fourth, South Lake fumbled inside its own 10-yard line. The Pirates capitalized with a touchdown run up the middle. On the extra-point attempt, the holder fielded a bad snap and scrambled into the end zone, cutting the lead to 28-22 with 10 minutes remaining.
The Eagles’ offense then struggled behind the chains, and Boca Ciega blocked a punt, setting up shop inside the 10. South Lake’s defense rose to the occasion once more, stuffing the Pirates and forcing them to turn the ball over on downs.
“Our defense saved us tonight,” Lord says. “They made two or three huge stops when the game was on the line. You can’t say enough about the way those guys competed, especially after we put them in bad spots with turnovers and penalties.”
With Wood and Kelly dealing with injuries, the Eagles leaned on their offensive line and running game. Freshman Walker Motley and sophomore Jayden Kaley stepped in and picked up crucial first downs as South Lake methodically moved the ball past midfield. They were able to chew up the remaining time and run out the clock for the victory.
While South Lake held on for the victory, Head Coach Brad Lord noted that the team needs to limit penalties to win games. “We keep shooting ourselves in the foot with costly penalties and blown assignments,” Lord says. “We have to fix this. Boca Ciega was a very good team. Our defense rose to the occasion making some huge stops and our offense had some big plays that carried us to the victory. We can’t make the same mistakes vs. Evans this week.”
While the Eagles started the season 0-4, they now sit at 2-4 and have a real shot to contend for a district championship. A win against Evans will put South Lake in the driver’s seat for the district with only a game against Lake Minneola remaining to wrap up the district. The Eagles next play at Evans High School on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. It’s going to be an enormous game for both teams with big potential playoff implications.
Photos provided by Shotbysbjr
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.
