Harlem has big victory
Dogs outscore Laney 19-7 in only second game in a month
The rain was a day away, but Harlem High School football coach Jimmie Lewis still got soaked Saturday night at Academy of Richmond County Stadium.
Lewis was caught in a celebratory shower of ice water after his Bulldogs upended the Lucy C. Laney High School Wildcats 19-7.
Harlem High School's Tae Dorsey (No. 9) is tackled by Lucy C. Laney High School's Rodriquez Briscoe. Harlem won 19-7.
Photo by Todd Bennett
''The biggest win of my coaching career, the best dad-blamed team effort I've seen in a long time out of our team," Lewis said after the Dogs dominated the Region 3-AAA contest.
Because of a pair of open dates and a postponement after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Harlem had played only one game in the past month.
Instead of coming out rusty against Laney, the Dogs were rested and ready and performed like a well-oiled machine.
''The defense shut 'em down, and the offense moved the ball and scored," Lewis said. ''They showed me a lot tonight - a lot of heart, a lot of class. They wanted to win this game bad."
The Harlem defense limited Laney to 141 total yards, thanks to tenacious open-field tackling and blanket coverage by the defensive backs. Linebacker Josh Wilmoth led the way, and cornerback Tim Camp intercepted two passes.
On offense, Larry Crawford scored two touchdowns and quarterback Domonique Brown sealed the victory with an 80-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
''They said we couldn't do it and we knew we could do it," Crawford said. ''We wanted to make a big statement to all the teams that Harlem's not playing around anymore. Hopefully we'll make it all the way to the region championship and then show more people we're ready to play."