Executive Education defeats Lakeland to advance to the State Quarterfinals

Tagged under: District 11, District 2, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

John Kotsko | November 19, 2022

Executive Education turned a close game at halftime into a decisive victory thanks to the passing of senior Darmel Lopez and fellow senior Jyhmiek Roman had a long touchdown run before the third quarter ended to give the Raptors a 42-15 victory over the Lakeland Chiefs. Raptors Head Coach Larry Ford on the second half and the adjustments. “We knew we could move the ball on offense after we started first and second quarter just throwing short passes. We had alot of big plays. Our defense shut them down and held them to 15 points.”

Both teams traded three and outs to start the game. Lakeland got good field position on the punt at the Executive Education 42 yard line. On a third down and nine, Dominico Spataro found Kevin Snyder for 12 yards. They faced a fourth and one at the 21 yard line but the Raptors defense stopped Lakeland and got the ball back.

Executive Education went three and out after the turnover on downs. Lakeland had good field position once again. However, the drive ended with Spataro’s pass being intercepted by Sylis Styles. First play of the Raptor drive, Lopez found Roman for 22 yards. On a third and 10, Lopez found Roman again for an 11 yard completion. A pass interference penalty on the Chiefs got Executive Education into Lakeland territory. On a third down and 7, Lopez found Damon Young for a 45 yard touchdown. They made the two point conversion to make it 8-0 Raptors with 11:40 remaining in the second quarter.

Lakeland got a great kick return on the ensuing kickoff. They got the ball at the Executive Education 46 yard line. On a third and 15, Spataro found Lacota Dippre for 22 yards. After an offsides gave the Chiefs a first down, Spataro’s pass ended up getting intercepted by defensive lineman Matthew Martinez and returned 75 yards for the touchdown. They got the two point conversion to make it 16-0 with 8:27 left in the second quarter.

Lakeland got the ball at their own 41 yard line looking to get a score. They faced a fourth and 1 at midfield. Spataro gained three yards for a first down. Jon Seamans ran for 14 yards on second down and 8. A couple of Raptors penalties moved the ball to the 14 yard line. On a third down and 4, Spataro went for six yards to the two yard line. Dippre finished the drive with a two yard touchdown run. They made a two point conversion to make it 15-8 with 2:24 remaining in the second quarter. The Chiefs defense forced a three and out to get the ball back. Lakeland was unable to capitalize as on the fourth play of the drive, Spataro’s pass ended up being picked off by Zamier Perkins. That ended the action in the first half.

The Raptors got the ball to start the second half. They faced a third and 5. Lopez found Roman for 15 yards to the Chiefs 35 yard line. On a third and 4 at the Lakeland 29 yard line, Lopez went to Emery Plummer for the 29 yard score for a 22-8 Executive Education lead with 9:21 remaining in the third quarter.

Lakeland got the ball looking to come back from two scores down. Spataro went to Snyder for 20 to the Raptor 39 yard line. Spataro went to Snyder again for 31 yards on a second and 10 to get to the EE eight yard line. After an offsides and a false start penalty, the Chiefs had a first and goal at the nine yard line. Spataro went to Seamans for the nine yard score to cut the deficit to 22-15 with 6:38 remaining in the third quarter.

On the first play of the Raptors drive, Lopez found Roman for 14 yards to get into Chiefs territory. Executive Education faced a fourth and 4 at the Lakeland 39 yard line. Lopez went to Cazhiere Richardson for six yards. After a false start and mistake on the snap on the Raptors. They faced a second and 28 at their own 49 yard line and Lopez found Young again for their second score of the game. The two point conversion made it 30-15 2:28 remaining in the third quarter.

Lakeland went three and out on the next drive and the punt ended up at their Lakeland 38 yard line. First play of the drive, Roman ran it in from 38 yards out to make it 36-15 with 27 seconds left in the third quarter. Executive Education cruised in the fourth quarter. Sylis Styles scored from 37 yards out to make it 42-15 with 3:09 remaining in the fourth quarter for the final score of the game.

Executive Education now advances to the 2A State Quarterfinals. For the Raptors, it is their first appearance in the State Playoffs and now their first win in the State Playoffs. Last year, they made it to the Eastern Conference Championship Game. It is only their second year as a football program. “We’re making everybody believe. We’ve heard the naysayers and we use that as fuel. I want to make our guys believe.” Ford said.

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