LAKELAND, FLORIDA – Kendrick Stewart is fearless.
Victory Christian's head coach proved Friday that he opted for a dangerous last-second landing on the street at Lakeland Christian as a substitute of kicking a 22-yard, game-tying area aim and battling to additional time in a Florida highschool soccer basic.
The gamble paid off when sophomore working again Zyrell Thomas took his brother Martell's hand and plowed towards the tip zone. When tackled to the turf, he prolonged his arm and prolonged the ball simply over the aim line for a 19-16 win as time expired within the Class 1S, District 5 sport.
“It was a tremendous feeling. I simply trusted my blockers and saved working,” Thomas mentioned. “It was a run from God. … I reached up and pulled my face masks off and simply hoped to get there.”
It was simply the third assembly between the 2 Lakeland-based small-school packages, with LCS successful the 2 earlier marquee matchups final yr, 28-27 in additional time and 16-15 within the 1S regional playoffs.
“It could be a nightmare (to lose to the LCS once more),” Stewart mentioned. “One thing you’ll be able to't get up from.
Lakeland Victory Christian quarterback Jackson Benton passes the ball throughout an instantaneous basic district showdown at Lakeland Christian,
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Stewart mentioned he settled for the game-winning landing after a number of timeouts had been known as earlier than the ultimate snap and Thomas' dream outweighed the potential for a residing nightmare.
“Zyrell is a sophomore and he mentioned he's been dreaming about this second,” Stewart mentioned. “He dreamed about it, so we gave it to him. We simply got here and believed. We had this sport circled and I need to give it to God.
“On the finish we mentioned, will we need to tie it up? I don't know. You don't need to go to conflict with these guys and trip, so we simply determined to have a little bit braveness.'
Victory took a 7-3 halftime lead after a 42-yard landing reception from Jackson Benton to Jozie Scott capped an 80-yard drive within the first quarter. LCS answered with a 35-yard area aim by Adrian Villanueva with one minute left within the quarter.
Lakeland Christian took its first lead within the third quarter after Killian O'Neal scored on a 1-yard run to place LCS up 9-7.
Within the fourth, Victory regained the lead when Storm senior quarterback Jackson Benton discovered Andrew Morrison within the nook of the tip zone for a 13-yard landing go.
However with 1:58 left within the sport, Lakeland Christian took a 16-13 lead when O'Neal scored his second landing on one other 1-yard run proper by the center of the Victory defensive position.
With the win, Victory Christian compelled a three-way tie within the 1S-District 5 standings with LCS and Zephyrhills Christian tied at 1-1. The win improves to 5-3 general and can host Fort Pierce John Carroll Catholic, whereas the LCS drops to 5-2 and can journey to Clearwater Calvary Christian.
