Leopards upset Rebels; head to fourth round

The Lakewood Leopards traveled to neighboring North Duplin Friday night in a third round match-up of the NCHSAA 1A playoffs. The Rebels had their number in their previous meeting this season, winning 43-24, but the Leopards were looking to spoil their undefeated season. That they did, as Lakewood handed them their first loss of the season, and an early exit from the playoffs, by a score of 26-20.

North Duplin came out running the ball, as many predicted, but the Leopards were making the yards hard-fought. An early third-and-short was converted by the Rebels, but big chunks weren’t the name of the game for them early.

North Duplin’s Carell Phillips, their leading rusher this season, finally broke a big gain on another third-and-short, but Lakewood was there once more to corral him in for the stop. A costly encroachment penalty was called on the Leopards on the ensuing first down play, which gave North Duplin short yardage for the first time. They grabbed that — and more — once action resumed. The Rebels nearly coughed up the ball at the Lakewood 20-yard line, but the runner was there to recover his own fumble on North Duplin’s first drive to keep it going.

A North Duplin ball carrier took the ball from the 11-yard line down to the goal line, just inches short of the line and seemingly fumbled out of the end zone, which would be a touchback. The referees didn’t see it as such, even after Lakewood’s sideline protested.

The previous play didn’t matter to the Leopards, though, as Cameron Williams recovered a fumble — North Duplin’s second on their first drive — at about the six-inch line, keeping the Rebels out of the end zone, and giving the Leopards the ball deep in their own territory.

Their first drive didn’t amount to much, as a big hit from North Duplin on a Calvin Lacewell, Jr. run up the gut on third-and-short set them up with fourth-and-short deep in their own territory, from which they elected to play it safe and punt it away.

Repeating their same offense from the first drive, the Rebels continued to grab small chunks of yardage as they moved towards the end zone. Faced with fourth-and-two, they used the hard count successfully, and Lakewood gave them the first down via penalty late in the first quarter. This gave North Duplin the ball just outside of the red zone.

It was North Duplin’s Vance Carter this time who broke off a near-20 yard run, placing the Rebels at Lakewood’s five yard line.

Phillips punched it in for North Duplin from this yardage with just 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter. After a successful PAT, the Rebels had a 7-0 lead as the game neared the second period.

The ensuing kickoff was a sky-high squib kick, which Lakewood’s Burroughs Strickland fair caught at their own 33. A big run on second down from Lacewell set them up on the other side of the field for the first time, as he sprinted the ball to North Duplin’s 40 yard line on the first play of the second quarter.

Reed Ammons called his own number in back-to-back plays, with two rushes on second and third downs. A face mask from the Rebels on the second one resulted in first-and-ten for the Leopards from North Duplin’s 24. From here, Nakai Owens stumbled and bumbled his way down to the 1-yard line, bouncing off tacklers on the way. An Ammons to Jaziah Brunson pass was the play call on second down, and it was successful for the score. However, on William Acosta’s PAT attempt, North Duplin’s Trashawn Ruffin got in the backfield and blocked it. With 10:11 remaining in the second, the Rebels still led, this time 7-6.

A huge run back on Acosta’s kick off gave North Duplin the ball at Lakewood’s 21, already knocking on the door of another touchdown. They were persistent in the run game, as they had been all season, and continued pushing toward the goal line.

It was Phillips whose number was called again for the Rebels, as he waltzed into the end zone through a big right side hole with 6:06 left in the second quarter. After the PAT, it was a 14-6 game in North Duplin’s favor.

The Leopards’ next drive stalled out before it could get started, as Lakewood found themselves behind the sticks early, and continued moving backwards. A botched punt snap from Acosta gave the Rebels the ball at Lakewood’s 18 yard line, once again giving them a short field.

The referees, who had been relatively quiet so far, called North Duplin for a hold on second down and long, and it pushed them to second and about 20. Faced with fourth-and-eight, the Rebels ran the play clock down and called a timeout with 1:59 remaining in the half – the first for either team.

A penalty gave the Leopards the ball at their own 34 after the Rebels failed to get the first down, with just 1:49 remaining in the half. Ammons scrambled on a broken pass play, scooting down field near the 50. However, it was called back on a hold by Lakewood, and it set them behind the chains on the drive. This was further worsened when a Lakewood ball carrier went out of bounds, but the clock continued to run, much to Lakewood’s dismay.

Clock issues or not — coach John Holt’s team still drove down the field and put the ball in the end zone. A connection over the middle from Ammons to Xavier Hall allowed him to use his size to burst through the secondary for the long strike right before half. This score brought them to within two, but a penalty on the two-point conversion set them back further before the ball was snapped for the try. Ammons was picked off on the attempt, and North Duplin held onto their 14-12 lead with just 21.5 second to go in the opening half.

A short, nearly-onside kick gave Lakewood the ball at their own 44 yard line to start the second half — a shorter field than their last go-round which resulted in their second score of the night. An errant pass from Ammons was nearly intercepted by the Rebels on second down, but the defender dropped it before he could establish possession.

Their opening drive of the second half stalled out, and the Leopards were forced to punt after a three-and-out. A well-placed punt from Acosta resulted in a Lakewood roll, giving North Duplin the ball at their own 16.

A tight Lakewood defense blew up any attempt the Rebels had on their next drive. A penalty helped the Leopards push them behind the chains, and on fourth-and-ten, North Duplin punted it back. A drive from each team so far in the second half, and the same result for both: a punt on fourth-and-long, as 8:16 was left in the third quarter.

The Rebels’ punt didn’t clear midfield, and Lakewood found themselves at North Duplin’s 21 yard line after just a few plays. And, soon after that, Lacewell punched it down to the 10 yard line as the Leopards knocked on the door of a touchdown once more.

It was Lacewell’s number that was called on second-and-goal, and it was he who scored to give them lead. With 5:18 to go in the third, Lakewood took the 19-14 lead off of Acosta’s toe on the PAT.

The momentum had swung in Lakewood’s favor at this point, as North Duplin received a false start or formation penalty on back-to-back drives. The Leopards were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which gave 15 yards back to the Rebels. They received another shortly after, and North Duplin’s biggest weapon on offense thus far on the drive was Lakewood’s miscues.

Faced once more with a fourth down, the Rebels did what they had done all night, and elected to run. They grabbed the line to gain, or so they thought, until a penalty set them back. A rare pass from the Rebels came on the repeated fourth down, and although the receiver outran the single coverage, the pass was too long and they turned it over on downs again.

Lakewood took over, and after a brutal run from Lacewell to their own 39 yard line, they let the time expire in the quarter and moved the game to the fourth. The energy they had on their last drive was back, and both players and coaches looked to the crowd to gain support as they took the lead into the final period.

A long throw from Ammons to Brunson on a post corner route against single coverage on third-and-long gave Lakewood the ball inside the North Duplin 10 yard line. Lacewell carried the workload throughout the drive, but Nakai Owens carried the ball into the end zone this time with 9:08 to go in the game. Acosta was successful on the PAT and Lakewood grabbed the two-score lead, 26-14.

The pendulum had swung completely in Lakewood’s favor at this point, as they stopped multiple drives from the Rebels in a row. They took over once more at the North Duplin 33, certainly eyeing another score to give themselves another insurance score.

A run from Dashaun Carr ended with confusion from both sides. He seemed to be stopped in his tracks, but no whistle was blown from the referees. He sprinted down the sidelines for a touchdown, and two referees blew their whistle and signaled that he had scored. Lakewood’s sideline erupted as the Rebels were in despair, but a flag had been thrown earlier in the play and it resulted in the touchdown being erased and instead, the Leopards got first-and-long.

Another penalty was called on the next play, and Lakewood was faced with a first-and-forever. Time was on their side, though, as the scoreboard showed just 4:20 remaining and the Leopards with the same two-score lead.

Lakewood grabbed chunks of yards on the ground to try to make up ground after the two penalties. They had fourth-and-short looking them in the eye, so they trotted Acosta out for about a 37-yard field goal. After a bobbled snap by the holder, the kick still looked to be good, but it was missed. With 3:35 to go, the Rebels took over at their 20-yard line, still trailing 26-14.

North Duplin’s Phillips broke free on a long run up the left side, and he found the end zone with 2:02 to go. A false start was called on their PAT try, which pushed them back five yards on the attempt, but before that could taken, Holt called for the Leopards’ first timeout of the half. A low, sidewinder of a kick missed low and left, and Lakewood had the 26-20 lead with 2:02 remaining.

The onside kick came from the Rebels, which Lakewood was anticipating, and they held onto the attempt. They took over at their own 48, with exactly two minutes remaining and their eyes on the fourth round.

Two stops from North Duplin, plus two timeouts, had Lakewood with the ball just shy of the 50 with third-and-medium as the clock showed 1:47. They were stopped once more on third down as they gained minimal ground towards the first down marker. The Rebels called their final timeout, which set the stage for a dramatic finish.

Acosta booted the ball away on fourth down, and Lakewood’s gunner made the tackle almost immediately, pinning North Duplin deep with 1:32 remaining and no timeouts at their own 23.

The clock ticked down as the Rebels continued running the ball with no timeouts. 26.3 seconds showed when the clock stopped on an incomplete pass at Lakewood’s 45-yard line, and the Leopards almost took the ball — and the game — on a fumble on third down. On the next play, Devin Jones blew a play up in the backfield and ended the Rebels’ season, much to the excitement of the visiting crowd.

Just 6.8 seconds remained when Reed Ammons and the offense took over to kneel it once to take the win from the undefeated conference champions, 26-20.

Coach Holt praised his team and their efforts since he took the head coaching job earlier this summer, in his post-game interview. “I’m just proud of our guys and the work they’ve put in,” he said. “They’ve been doing exactly what we asked them to do since summer … I’m very proud of our kids, very proud of our school, very proud of our coaches and our community.”

The Leopards will face off against the winner of the Wilson Prep-North Moore match-up in their next contest.