Raiders, Leopards duke it out on gridiron

What could easily be Sampson County’s game of the year is this week’s DuBose Strapping Game of the Week, as the 2-1 Midway Raiders traveled to take on the 3-0 Lakewood Leopards. It was the Raiders’ ball game, as they served up Lakewood’s first loss of the season, 37-34.

Many storylines developed prior to this game, as it was Barrett Sloan’s first game coaching his alma mater against Lakewood, where he had coached for years prior. Midway’s lone loss came in a very wet and muddy game at home against James Kenan two weeks ago, and they had a somewhat close call against North Johnston last week.

For Lakewood, their 3-0 record shows a couple big wins, but their defense wasn’t as strong last week against Lejeune, giving up 418 passing yards and four touchdowns — but the bright side was the three interceptions they had alongside that. Calvin Lacewell, Jr. had another big game as he had 229 rushing yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns.

Reed Ammons was behind the center for the second straight week for the Leopards, with Rylan Godbold on the sidelines for most of it. The Leopards stalled on their first drive, but Midway’s Thomas Perez was called for a roughing the kicker on the punt, which gave Lakewood a fresh set of downs.

This proved beneficial for the Leopards, as Calvin Lacewell, Jr. punched it on the ground with 7:58 to go in the first. THe ensuing PAT was good, and Lakewood saw an early 7-0 lead.

The Raiders were their own enemy on their first drive, with two penalties early giving them a long third down. Lakewood’s Dontavius Smith received the punt and returned it to the Midway eight yard line, which set up another quick Lacewell score. With 5:28 left in the first quarter, the Leopards saw themselves up 14-0 in front of their own crowd, with all of the momentum on their side.

Mistakes by the Raiders on their ensuing drive once again giving Lakewood the ball on a Cooper Ivey interception for the Leopards.

It was Lakewood hurting themselves on the next drive after the interception, though, as they faced third and about 40 due to penalties and a stout Midway defense.

Midway took over at the Lakewood 33 yard line on a bobbled punt snap, and just a few seconds later, Midway’s Tanner Williams rushed in for the touchdown with 12.5 seconds to go in the first quarter. With a successful two-point conversion, it made it a 14-8 ball game, and all momentum soon shifted in the Raiders’ favor.

Midway struggled with getting play calls in all night, evidenced by coach Barrett Sloan calling his last two timeouts of the first half with 7:45 and 7:32 left in the half, respectively. This slowed the Raiders down, but did not entirely stop them, as Gehemiah Blue rushed in for the touchdown with 6:21 to go in the second quarter. The PAT was good, making it a 15-14 ball game.

The Raiders would have the ball one more time in the half, with 2:35 to go and no timeouts. A hail mary down the sidelines almost led to a touchdown, but time expired as the receiver was down at the one yard line. Going into half, it was a 15-14 Midway ball game, with plenty of clock and more action coming after the break.

A big return by Gehemiah Blue on the second half kickoff gave Midway good field position. Midway’s Nathue Myles ran back-to-back jet sweeps, with the first one gaining a chunk of yards, but the second one ended with Lakewood’s Nakai Owens stripping the ball and giving the Leopards the possession.

Calvin Lacewell, Jr. rushed in for his third touchdown of the night at the 8:16 mark in the third, and Lakewood attempted their own two-point conversion, but failed, making it a 20-15 ball game.

Midway struck back with 3:50 to go in the quarter, making it a 23-20 score on a Gehemiah Blue two-point conversion.

Lakewood returned the favor on a Chris Carr run up the middle with 1:22 left in the quarter, and with a successful PAT, it was the Leopards back on top, 27-23. The quarter would end with that score as Midway had possession.

A 15-yard penalty on Lakewood to start the fourth quarter gave Midway a break, as Blue and Myles carried the Raider offense down the field on short, but meaningful runs.

Blue carried it into the end zone once more for Midway with 8:53 to go, and after the two-point conversion was once again successful, the Raiders led, 31-27.

Reed Ammons carried the ball into the end zone for the Leopards with just under five minutes to go, where they secured the 34-31 lead. This would be their last score of the game, as Midway methodically marched down the field and chewed the clock up to score their final touchdown, a one yard run by Jacob Holland, which gave them the 37-34 lead on a missed PAT with just 20.2 seconds left.

Lakewood attempted to drive down the field when they received the ball back, but a muffed kick return set them up deep in their own territory, and Reed Ammons couldn’t connect with his receivers.

“It’s just surreal,” a self-described emotional Barrett Sloan said after the game, through some tears. “It’s just so good. It’s so good to see these kids again and see how they battled. That was the message when I left Lakewood — I told those boys that when we played them, I wanted them to fight like heck.”

Midway is now 3-1 as they face Goldsboro at home next week. Lakewood is also 3-1, and they will travel to Red Springs next Friday.