GAINESVILLE – Championship teams rise to the moment.
At every big moment, the Lanier Christian Academy football did just that to become GAPPS State Champions with its 14-13 win over Cherokee Christian Thursday night.
“That’s all on the boys,” Lanier Christian coach Joel Lulinski said. “I always knew they could do it, and we just had to get them to believe they could do it. The last two years all we’ve faced is adversity. The guys embraced it, and they fought hard.”
The school’s first football state title did not come easy. The Lanier Christian players leaned on each other to get their championship.
“The guys came together,” said Isaiah Hrenuic, who was injured in the first game of the season but made it back for the state title game. “Coming back and scoring like we did and then holding onto the one-point lead was surreal. If we did not have this specific team, we may have lost. We are the brotherhood here. We came together and put it all on the line. Give all the glory to God for this one.”
Clinging to a one-point lead for the last 17 minutes of the game, the Lightning defense made big play after big play. Defensive back Andrew Batusic ended one Cherokee threat with a leaping interception in the end zone. Lineback Asher Acton stepped in front of a Cherokee receiver for another interception.
Defensive back Davis Rowan broke up a pass to stop another drive. The Lightning stopped the Warriors twice on fourth down. Hrenuic and Isaac Fambrough kept consistent pressure on Cherokee quarterback Bear Statham.
Down 13-7 at the half, the Lightning took advantage of Batusic’s 21-yard punt return to take the lead. Quarterback Drew Kalinauskis hit Batusic with a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play to give LCA a 14-13 lead with 5:25 left in the third quarter.
“That was an amazing catch. Andrew has been solid for us all year, and he has produced for us,” Lulinski said.
After Lanier Christian’s fourth-down stop with 46.3 seconds to play, the Lightning needed one first down to ice the game. The Warriors stopped the clock twice with timeouts, setting up a third-and-2. Kalinauskis drove straight ahead for 3 yards behind his center, Joshua Waymack, for the game-clinching first down.
The Lightning beat Cherokee 17-10 in the regular season, and the championship game was even closer.
Statham gave Cherokee a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. Lanier Christian (9-3) responded with a 61-yard drive that ended with Kalinauskis connecting with Ben Hargis on a 10-yard scoring play 3:39 before the half. The Warriors retook the lead 13-7 with Statham’s 31-yard TD pass to Jayben Meder with 15 seconds left in the half.
