by Matt Wright
In what can only be described as a strange outcome, the Lakeland Lions were defeated in overtime against the Millington Trojans this evening (September 26) in the municipal football playoffs 14-12, but in a twist of fate, the Lions still advance in the playoffs. Arlington, who lost to Bon Lin, will also advance to the sectional playoffs. Only schools that are official members of the TMSAA (Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association) can advance to the Tennessee sectionals. Millington is not a member of the TMSAA which is usually an indication not all the players attend the school.
The Lions came into the game with a record of 4-1 and the game proved to be a defensive battle much like the regular season game between the Lions and Trojans. Lakeland won that game 8-0 at Millington.
Coach Tyler White, Head Coach for Lakeland said, “Millington is a really good team. I knew this would be a battle.” Lakeland has depended on quarterback Hayden Kee all year for offensive production and Millington came in with a game plan to contain the shifty Lion QB. With strong play on the defensive line, the Trojans caused problems all evening for the Lions getting into the backfield. But the Lions stood out on defense as well, bottling up Millington for the first 3 quarters. Anthony Hester and CJ Pride made strong open field tackles for Lakeland, preventing some big runs for the Trojans when they were able to get outside. Coach White added, “Millington came out in trip sets, something they haven’t shown all year, and we just didn’t adjust.”
Millington was able to finally punch the ball into the endzone with 1:01 left in the 4th quarter going up 6-0. The Lions stopped the conversion and had a minute left on the scoreboard to tie the game and that’s exactly what the Lions did. After receiving the kickoff and getting just a few yards in it’s first few possessions, QB Hayden Kee rolled out to his right and hit wide receiver Rip Pittman down the sideline for a 60 yard TD tying the game 6-6 with only 5 seconds remaining in the game. After two costly penalties that backed up the Lions, Lakeland could not convert the 2 point conversion to win so the game went to overtime. “We had our chance to win right there” said Coach White.
In overtime, Millington scored in their first possession from the 10 yard line and was successful on the 2 point conversion going up 14-6. As per overtime rules, Lakeland had their opportunity to score from the 10 yard line and was successful with a QB keeper up the middle. The Lions failed to covert the 2 point conversion however and the game ended 14-12. As assistant coach Ernest Slaton said, “Millington came to play tonight.”
Lakeland will now travel to Haywood County to play on October 15th in the next round of the sectional playoffs.
