LAKELAND — Lakeland Christian didn’t fool around with so much on the line. The Vikings took control of the game early and never let their foot off the gas en route to a 41-7 victory over Victory Christian on Friday night in the showdown between Class 1A, District 7 rivals at Southeastern’s Victory Field.
LCS (8-0-1, 4-0) not only clinched the district title, its third district title for football in school history, it avenged last season’s playoff loss to Victory Christian (6-3, 3-1).
It was a dominant performance as Lakeland Christian finished with 358 yards of total offense while holding Victory to just 124 yards, including less than 100 yards until the final minutes of the game. The Vikings also came up with three interceptions.
“The defense played great,” LCS coach Danny Williams said. “We took away some things that they wanted to do and made them do some things they probably weren't comfortable with.”
Here are three takeaways from the Vikings’ victory.
LCS strikes fast
Lakeland Christian made a statement when it drove 82 yards on just six plays on its first drive of the game game, taking a 7-0 lead on Brady Brenneman’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Messiah Borders.
The Vikings’ defense stiffened to stop Victory on fourth down on the following drive. LCS then went 66 yards on 12 plays to take a 14-0 lead with seven seconds left to play on Brenneman’s 6-yard pass to Jack Jenkins.
“We, haven’t been able to jump out on them in every game we played,” LCS coach Danny Williams. “So that was good.”
By halftime, it was 28-0 as AJ Truedell, who rushed for 106 yards on 16 carries, scored twice on runs of 27 yards and 8 yards.
LCS wins QB battle
There’s no doubt that Victory Christian eighth-grade QB Jaxon Smith has tremendous upside, but this night belonged to Brenneman.
The USF-bound senior completed 18 of 24 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns.
Smith was just 6 of 16 for 48 hours, but he wasn’t helped out y his teammates, who can up with several
Vikings show off their WR depth
Lakeland Christian was already down two wide receiver in Cael Straub and Markus Bangston who were out with injuries. The Vikings then lost Borders late in the second quarter when he was ejected. Borders, who caught three passes for 53 yards will miss at least next week’s regular-season finale.
Brenneman, however, spread the ball around as he completed passes to at least seven different players. Sophomore Jayden Wall led with five receptions for 77 yards.
Straub and Langston both could be back for the first week of the playoffs.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland Christian makes statement with dominating win over Victory