Lakeside's QB leads victory
Lakeside running back Kyle Hill says he can't think of anyone he would rather have at quarterback than Jimmy Johnson.
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Lakeside's Blake Goolsby is brought down by a Jefferson County defender with less than a minute to play in the first half at Panther Stadium in Evans.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
There are 60 or so other guys who play for Lakeside who would probably say the same thing.
Johnson showed why his teammates felt this way when he orchestrated an 24-12 upset over Jefferson County last Friday at Panther Stadium.
Johnson was a maestro, directing the Panthers' option attack. The senior signal caller ran for a 22-yard score and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass. Johnson's highlight play, though, came on an option keeper.
Johnson darted down the sideline 30 yards and pitched to Hill before he was tackled. Hill raced another 22 yards before being forced out of bounds. Although Hill received the full 55 yards on the stat sheet, he credited Johnson with the play.
"Jimmy Johnson is the smartest quarterback in the state," said the junior tailback, who gained 105 yards while filling in for the injured Brian Gross-Bias and Carl Burrow. "We work on that pitch downfield in practice, but it takes a good quarterback to make the play in a game."
Hill and the rest of the Panthers' backfield totaled 270 yards against a much larger opposition.
Coach Randy Hill joked before the game that he would have to rebuild the opposing locker room entrance because it wasn't big enough to fit the Warriors players.
Jefferson County's Milton Reaves tries to out maneuver Lakeside's Chris Drayton in the first half of the game.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
But despite the underdog status, Hill said he thought the Panthers could win before the game.
"I didn't see anything on film that we can't stop," the Panthers coach said about an hour before the game. "If we play as good as we can, then we can win."
Although he didn't have an "I-told-you-so-attitude" after the game, Hill's post-game speech let anyone within the immediate area know that Lakeside would be a team to reckon with this season.
"When our team plays our best, mistake-free football, no team can beat us," he yelled. "I mean no team."
The Panther defense played like they have all season: shutting down the run and creating turnovers.
While Jefferson County's much-ballyhooed running back Jeffrey Walker gained just 125 yards against the Panthers, with 65 of those yards coming on the Warriors' last drive - after the game was well out of reach.
Walker, who was named Player of the Week in The Augusta Chronicle on Friday after gaining 400 yards over his previous two games, never got into a rhythm.
"We saw that he was talking about rushing for another 200 yards against us," said cornerback B.B. Brandenburg. "We took it personally."
Lakeside quarterback Jimmy Johnson is tackled on the sideline with no gain on the play by Jefferson County's defense late in the first half at Panther Stadium.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Defensive end Paul Miller said the article was on the bulletin board before the game, along with predictions that said the Panthers would lose.
"We have all that negative stuff about us on the bulletin board," he said. "It motivates us."