Here's why Evans-Lakeside is the most underrated football rivalry in the Augusta area
Evans and Lakeside proved once again Friday why they may have the most underrated football rivalry in the CSRA.
The Knights put together a clutch drive in the final quarter to survive the thriller, winning 16-15. It’s the second year in a row this matchup finished in a one-point game, with Lakeside taking last season’s meeting 22-21.
“It’s supposed to be that way. We’re two evenly matched teams and the kids play their butts off and give everything they’ve got,” Lakeside coach Steve Hibbitts said. “It comes down to stuff like that. They’re fun games to be in, obviously not when you’re on the wrong end of them.”
More than 1,400 fans packed an electric Blanchard Stadium on Friday night.
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Trailing 15-9 late in the fourth quarter, the Evans offense put together a sustained drive, capped by a Jeremy Howard 27-yard touchdown run. A turnover on Lakeside’s final possession ended any hopes of a comeback.
“Jeremy Howard made a great play there and we made a defensive stop at the end,” Evans coach Barrett Davis said. “Our guys weren’t worried about any of the extra, outside stuff this week. Our guys were focused and with this old rivalry, it could’ve went either way. They had us for most of the game, it only matters when the clock hits zero.”
Trailing 7-0, Rayshaun King got the Knights on the board with a 97-yard rushing touchdown, but a bad snap on the PAT left Evans trailing 7-6. Evans took the lead with a 29-yard field goal from Tyler Wallace, which was set up by a circus catch from senior receiver Dontevius Williams.
“We knew we were playing good defensively, for the most part,” Davis said. “Two drives they moved the ball down and scored. We knew we could punt, pin them deep and have a good shot to hold them. They were playing good on stuff up the gut, but we started having to hit stuff off the edge and luckily we found a seam there at the end.”
Evans (3-3) sits 2-0 in the region going into an off week. The Knights will pick up action again Oct. 13 at home against Effingham County.
“They’ve (Lakeside) got a great team,” Davis said. “We were focused on ourselves and luckily we made one more play at the end of the game than they did. That’s what they did to us last year, so at the end of the day we’re 2-0 and tied for first in the region and we’re where we need to be.”
Lakeside offense gets creative with versatile tight end
Junior tight end Jack Thexton scored both of Lakeside’s touchdowns on the night, but not how fans are used to seeing. He found the end zone on a pair of direct snaps out of the backfield and added a two-point conversion to boot.
“We just wanted to find a different look and it’s basically a single wing,” Hibbitts said. “We wanted to find a way to get it in his hands and be able to do some other stuff off of it. The kids had fun with it because it’s old-school football.
Transfer quarterback sidelined with injury
Noah Story wasn't in pads Friday after injuring his shoulder in last week's 27-6 win over Grovetown. A senior Thomson transfer, Story completed five of seven passes before going down in his first game in an Evans uniform.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Why Evans-Lakeside might be the fiercest football rivalry in Augusta
