Leopards’ playoff push falls short

The Cinderella story of the 2024 Lakewood Leopards’ football team came to a halt Friday night against the Wilson Prep Tigers in the fourth round of the NCHSAA 1A playoffs. A stagnant first half from both teams turned into a slugfest in the second, but the Tigers won the match-up by a final score of 36-17.

William Acosta kicked off for the Leopards, but beforehand a penalty was called on Wilson Prep for too many men on the field. Acosta sent a low, knuckleball kick from his own 40 deep into the Tigers’ den. A small return had them set up for the first time from their own 10.

The Tigers looked to pass early, as predicted by many, but the Leopards’ stout defensive line put pressure on the scrambling quarterback. On third-and-long, the quarterback rushed out of the pocket, and Deshaun Carr was there for the upfield stop. Wilson gained nothing more than a couple yards, and they elected to punt after being stifled.

A low, screwball punt that cleared the offensive line by seemingly millimeters bounced off the foot of Reed Ammons, and the Tigers recovered for possession once more at their own 25. A 20-yard run out of the pistol formation for Wilson set them up at their own 45 for their biggest play thus far that wasn’t courtesy of a Lakewood miscue.

The Tigers started employing their run game heavily now, grabbing chunks of yards as they moved past the 50. Coach John Holt became as fiery as he had all season after yet another big play took Wilson down to the 14 of Lakewood.

Dashaun Carr took this to heart and blew a speed option play up deep in the backfield, and set the Tigers up for another third-and-long. Faced with 4th-and-about-4, Wilson ran it once more, but the Leopards put the clamps down on the run and left them knocking on the door with no answer.

Reed Ammons and camp finally had their first turn on offense, deep in their own zone, setting things up at their own five. Calvin Lacewell, Jr. took the ball first for Lakewood and grabbed a first down on their first play, giving them breathing room and getting their backs off the goal line. A false start on third down set them back behind the chains, and after a minimal run on a scramble by Ammons, Lakewood was forced to punt.

The Tigers were on the prowl once more via the run game, pushing through the Leopards’ pack to gain everything they could towards the end zone. They pushed all the way down to the 11, but another Dashaun Carr tackle on second gave them third-and-long. Fourth-and-long came next, and the Tigers needed the 1 to get first down. Before that, the clock expired for the first quarter, as neither team had done much offensively.

Fourth-and-1 was the down and distance facing the Tigers to open up the second, and they gained six yards on a run for the touchdown. A successful two-point conversion came next, and the hometown Tigers got the first score of the night, making it 8-0 with 11:54 left in the second quarter.

The ensuing kickoff resulted in no Leopard touching the ball, but Lakewood taking possession on the positive side of the 50. The Tigers attempted an onside kick, but an obscure spin on the ball made it roll backwards to their own 34.

A third-and-long came about for Lakewood after getting a first down on the drive. A gain of six on the play as a result of an Ammons pass to Jaziah Brunson gave them fourth-and-5. A miscue on the snap resulted in negative yards and a turnover on downs.

Wilson went back to the run game on their next possession, but a fumble recovered by Juan Parker, Jr. gave Lakewood the ball right back. The Tigers nearly returned the favor on a bruising hit on Ammons, in which he coughed the ball up, but it wasn’t recovered before it dribbled out of bounds. Lakewood retained possession for a second-and-11 after the yardage lost on the play.

This squandered the drive for the Leopards, and Acosta came out to punt it away once more. The kick gave the Tigers the ball at their own 16.

Wilson Prep continued their ground game, but Xavier Howard was there on a big stop for negative yardage, and pushed them into another third-and-long. An incomplete pass was the result on the next play, and they trotted out their punt team once more. A true battle of defenses had unfolded in Wilson, and neither team wanted to give any sign of reprieve. This was evidenced again by the Leopards pushing through the offensive line on the punt, and the kick went into the back of the Tigers’ helmets, giving Lakewood another possession served on a platter.

Going toe-to-toe with the big rushing attack of the Tigers, Lakewood switched to their run game themselves and executed it well. The drive was capped off with a short run from Nakai Owens, who took a direct snap after some pre-play trickery from the Leopards. With 2:44 remaining in the second half, Owens found not only the touchdown, but also the two-point conversion, and knotted the game at 8 just before half.

Lakewood called its first timeout of the first half with less than two minutes remaining and Wilson facing third-and-ten after a big quarterback sack on second down. The Tigers were backed up once more on the play, and Lakewood called their second timeout as they prepared to takeover again.

Lakewood attempted a reverse on their first play of the drive, but the pitch was fumbled. A costly mistake late in the half gave the Tigers the first down at Lakewood’s 40 and a fresh set of downs. The mistake really started hurting the Leopards as the Tigers’ quarterback scrambled all the way down to the 10-yard line, and threw a touchdown pass on the next play. An unsuccessful two-point conversion was next.

Lakewood took over with just under a minute left, but didn’t move the ball much. 14-8 was the halftime score, with the hosting Tigers on top.

With obvious kicker struggles from the Tigers, their opening kick off for the second half was a squib kick. Jaziah Brunson returned it to Lakewood’s own 30, where the offense started their first drive of the second half. They gained one first down, but a penalty forced them behind the chains on the second set of downs, and they never recovered. Acosta trotted out and delivered another booming punt, which the Tigers muffed, but recovered. This pinned them back at their own 10-yard line.

They weren’t deep in their own territory for very long, as their first play of the third quarter went for 16 yards to their own 26. Defense was still reigning supreme though, and Lakewood stopped them before they even got to the 50. A high snap on the punt led to a pack of Leopards taking down the punter.

The Tiger defense thought they got another piece of redemption on a Lacewell run, in which they thought he fumbled, but the unusually-quiet referees ruled him down. Nonetheless, Lakewood’s progress was stopped on third down, and out walked their big leg in William Acosta, who nailed the 37-yard field goal by barely sneaking it inside the left upright. With 4:47 left in the third, Lakewood ate more of the deficit, making it 14-11, still in Wilson’s favor.

Acosta’s kickoff, however, was a low, line drive squib, which the Tiger returner took all the way down to the Leopards’ 18-yard line. This set up them up well for their next drive, and just a couple plays later, they found the end zone once more. They were successful on the two-point conversion, and with 3:48 to go in the third, the Tigers now led, 22-11.

Another drive stalled for the Leopards, as seemingly all the wind had been taken out of their sails and the offense became stagnant. Acosta punted away for them once more with 1:31 left in the third period. This wasn’t helped as the Tigers took a big chunk of yards down to Lakewood’s 35 on their first play of their next drive.

Wilson moved the ball down to the 5-yard line and let the quarter run out from there. They maintained their 22-11 lead going into the final 12 minutes of the game.

The first play of the fourth quarter — just like the second quarter — resulted in a Wilson Prep touchdown. Another two points were added on the post-touchdown attempt, and the Tigers took the 30-11 lead with 11:53 to go in the contest.

Donavan Smith took the next kickoff — another squib — on a long run back, reaching the Tigers’ 35 and putting a spark back into the Leopards. The spark was there as Reed Ammons connected first with Xavier Hall on a first down pass, and then with Marquis Owens on a moon shot pass to the back corner of the end zone. The connection with Hall on the two-point conversion wasn’t there, though, but Lakewood had cut the Tiger lead down to 30-17 with 11:02 remaining in the contest.

Wilson’s returner zigged-and-zagged across the field on the return, and coughed up the football. They retained possession, but only at their own 29, after it looked as though they would take it back far.

The Tigers stuck to the ground game, as they had, but now they were eating as much clock as they could. This cost them once, on a delay-of-game penalty, but Lakewood gave them back the yardage they lost shortly after on an encroachment penalty. What was once a game of teams trading tough defenses became a game of teams trading penalties on this drive, as the Tigers were called for an illegal procedure on the next play.

A crucial third-and-long just shy of the 50 came for Wilson Prep, and the quarterback was able to shuffle out of the pocket and grab the line to gain with his feet. Time continued to tick off the clock, and it looked as if Lakewood’s Cinderella story was coming to a close.

John Holt called for Lakewood’s first timeout of the half with 5:20 remaining and the Tigers chewing yards and the clock. Second-and-nine faced the driving Tigers on the return to action. The break in action proved to be ineffective and Wilson scored on the next play. They were stuffed at the line of scrimmage on the two-point attempt, though. With 5:12 to go, the Tigers led, 36-17.

The Tigers’ defense held strong on the next drive. The Leopards had taken to the air to get big yardage quick, but were faced with two straight incompletions after gaining a first down. Ammons was sacked for a big loss on fourth down, and Wilson took over again on downs deep in Lakewood territory with under five minutes to go.

Back-to-back miscues came for the Tigers after they had pushed it down to the 11. First a 15-yard offensive facemask was called, then a botched snap on the replayed first down. They gained some yards back on second, but Lakewood gave them third-and-15. Another botched snap on the play resulted in Cameron Williams getting a sack, and the Tigers now faced fourth-and-26.

The defense had gotten big stops in the drive, but it seemed to be too-little-too-late to mount the comeback. Nonetheless, they took over after stopping them once more on fourth down, this time at their own 33 and with just under two minutes to go.

The ensuing drive from Lakewood didn’t gain much traction, and another big sack at the claws of the Tigers sealed the deal on the game. With 52 seconds remaining, the Leopards turned the ball over again. Wilson Prep kneeled it twice and ran the clock out, getting the 36-17 win and ending Lakewood’s season.

The Leopards finished at 10-4, and the deepest run from any Sampson County team in this year’s playoffs.

John Holt, although successfully in many peoples’ eyes in his first year as coach of the Leopards, already has his eyes on next season. “I’m proud of our kids and the buy-in we’ve had all season. I would also say that my goal’s not to make it to the fourth round and get beat. My goal is to do everything we can to win every game build this program as good as it can be.”

Holt said the team will “take a few weeks off,” but said they will be back training again soon. He also expressed gratitude for the community around Leopards football.