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COMPLETE STORY: Barons Beat Up Dragons

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Paul Catala

Published: November 4, 2007

Although it was another defeat for the Lake Placid football team, there were a few positives to come out of the Green Dragons' 38-6 loss to St. Petersburg Catholic Friday night.

LP scored its first touchdown in four games, and despite having lost its last six games, the embattled Dragons know there's still Lemon Bay left to play.

On senior night and St. Pete Catholic's last game of the season, Baron senior quarterback Kevin Tapp threw for more than 100 yards and one touchdown to lead his team to a convincing season-ending Class 2A-District 5 victory for St. Pete, which racked up nearly 600 yards of total offense against a younger Lake Placid team.

But under the offensive and defensive direction of two senior leaders — running back Rashaad Brown and linebacker Josh Hickey — Lake Placid (2-7, 1-5) finally got on the board for the first time in three games.

Late in the third quarter, Brown, who ran for 68 yards and averages 3.7 yards per carry this season, took the ball in from four yards out to make it 31-6 with a missed extra point. That touchdown was preceded by the Green Dragons' longest series, a seven-play drive that included a 22-yard run by Hickey and the Brown score.

Lake Placid senior quarterback Conlin Veley, who's been used sparingly over the past two weeks due to a shoulder injury, only managed to connect on two passes on 10 attempts for 15 yards, despite playing the entire game.

Other than the Lake Placid score, the Barons (3-7, 3-2) dominated the game from the onset. Just 30 seconds into the first quarter, St. Petersburg's leading rusher, senior running back A. J. Butler, took a Tapp hand-off and from the team's own 44 yard line, ran right 56 yards and in for the touchdown to make it 7-0.

Senior Courtney Feazell's seven-yard rushing touchdown late in the first made it 14-0 and an Eddie Nobel 39-yard field goal midway through the second quarter put St. Pete up 17-0. The Barons scored twice more on the ground, with Feazell scoring again with two minutes in the second to make it 24-0 and on a Butler 60-yard sprint from another Tapp hand-off midway through the third made it 31-0.
In the third quarter, Lake Placid sophomore guard Zach Reynolds notched two quarterback sacks for a combined 10-yard loss to briefly halt Tapp, but not for long.

After the Dragons' score with 1:14 left in the third, St. Petersburg finished the game and their season a minute into the fourth quarter, when Tapp hit wide senior receiver Nick Hess from 30 yards out to make it 38-6.

Although it was another loss, Lake Placid Head Coach Tim Grant was happy his team was able to learn what he called a new offensive scheme — one that relied more on the ground than the air — in three days' of practice.

"We wanted to send our seniors out on a good note, but we're not finishing what we start," Grant said, referring to the team's short drives. "Lemon Bay is up and it will be another week. We're not tackling well and missing a lot of fundamental stuff. But, we got on the board and that's better than nothing."
Friday's game was the third time Lake Placid has faced St. Petersburg. The Barons have now won all three meetings.

Lake Placid High School Football Photo Gallery

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