SHRUB OAK – Gio LaPeruta found just enough wiggle room to manufacture another dramatic Lakeland win.
And there haven’t been many this celebrated in recent years.
LaPeruta delivered a pair of touchdowns passes in regulation Friday, scored an overtime touchdown and tacked on the conversion run before handing off to a revved-up defense that got the one stop it needed to claim a 22-20 win over Carmel.
“Over time you learn to embrace the pressure,” the junior quarterback said. “You have to make a play for your team and that’s what I did.”
There’s one more game to go in the regular season, but the win likely sends the Hornets into the playoffs with a No. 2 seed in Class A.
“We knew this could happen," said Lakeland wideout Anthony Ray, who caught both of LaPeruta touchdown passes. “On media day, nobody picked us to even be a No. 4 seed. We all knew what could happen if we just went to work. We’ve been doing this all together since third grade, so this is great.”
The Hornets got the first crack in overtime.
LaPeruta used a nifty lateral cut on the 9-yard touchdown run and squeezed in behind Justin Zumbo on the conversion run.
“All year we’ve talked about being aggressive,” Hornets coach Ryan Shilling said. “We’re always going to keep pushing. Sometimes it leads to bad plays, but sometimes it leads to good plays. We knew it would put a lot of pressure on Carmel if we got in, so we went for it. We had run the ball well on back-to-back plays to get into the end zone, so I felt pretty confident.”
Landon Beauchesne scored a pair of touchdowns for the Rams before exiting with an injury and Ryan Sinnott scored the overtime touchdown. His number was called again to extend the game, but he ran into Mike Lucia in the backfield on the 2-point try.
Player of the game
After the Carmel touchdown in overtime, Lucia asked to slide over and line up across from Sinnott on the conversion try. It was a bold move and he slipped through a seam into the backfield to make the stop while Frank Imbrogno walled off the line of scrimmage.
Takeaways
Lakeland seems to come up big in chaotic situations. These are the guys who pulled out a fourth-and-forever overtime win against rival Yorktown earlier this season. There was a nervy comeback win at Nyack, as well.
Carmel is not going to enjoy watching the video from this game. The Rams had a drop in the end zone and had a 71-yard touchdown run called by due to holding. Flags were an issue all game. It’s too late in the season for those kinds of mental letdowns.
Next up
Lakeland closes out the regular season at home against Brewster on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. Carmel is back on the road on Friday, Oct. 23 and will take on Somers at 6:30 p.m.
Scoring
Second quarter
Lk: Gio LaPeruta 32-yard pass to Anthony Ray. (Dylan Vazquez kick).
Third quarter
C: Landon Beauchesne 4-yard run. (John Kasbarian kick).
Lk: LaPeruta 43-yard pass to Ray. (Vazquez kick).
C: Beauchesne 3-yard run. (Kasbarian kick).
Overtime
Lk: LaPeruta 9-yard run. (LaPeruta run).
C: Ryan Sinnott 2-yard run. (Run failed).
Mike Dougherty covers high school football for The Journal News/lohud. Follow along on Instagram @hoopsmbdlohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Lakeland football gets another dramatic win, topping Carmel in OT