ALBANY, Ga. — Lakeview Academy’s bid for a first-ever playoff victory did not go as planned.
The Lions’ long road trip to Deerfield-Windsor ended in a 28-0 loss in the quarterfinal round of the GIAA Class 3A playoffs on Friday night.
The Knights (8-3) scored on all four of their first half possessions as the Lakeview defense was hit for two big plays in the opening five minutes. The Lions offense, which came in averaging over 34 points/game, was held to -2 yards of offense on their first two drives.
Trailing 21-0, Lakeview (9-2) finally got things working midway through the second quarter, moving to the Knights ‘ 26. But they were stopped on downs and Deerfield answered with a 74-yard drive for a 28-0 lead.
Lakeview drove to the Knights’ 35 in the waning seconds of the half but again were stopped on downs.
In the third quarter, Lakeview would pick off one pass and recover a fumble inside Deerfield territory but could not cash in. But the Lions finally got on the board on an 87-yard TD pass from Kyari Burch to Nesean Dorsey late in the period to cut it to 28-6.
Lakeview had a chance to cut into the lead, forcing a Deerfield punt. But the Lions muffed the punt and the Knights recovered at the Lakeview 41. Five plays later they extended the lead to 35-6 with a short touchdown run.
The Lions did not go away, however, as Burch exploded for a 90-yard touchdown run to pull within 35-12 with just under 9 minutes left.
Deerfield sealed it by running the final 8:42 of the game for the win.
