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Veley Throws Four TD Passes As LP Offense Explodes In Win

Courtesy photo/Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Rashaad Brown (1) runs behind the blocking of Travalier Sholtz (70) for one of his two touchdowns against Moore Haven on Friday.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: September 16, 2007

Lake Placid High School Football Photo Gallery

MOORE HAVEN — Where have you been Lake Placid offense?

After taking the first two weeks off, the Green Dragons offense returned with a vengeance, racking up 432 yards of total offense and steam rolling over the Moore Haven Terriers in a 47-22 win at Joe Brown Stadium on Friday.

Senior quarterback Conlin Veley led the attack by throwing for 244 yards on 8-for-17 passing and four touchdowns in his best game as the Green Dragon signal caller.

"We just threw more passes and ran more routes during practice this week," Veley said. "That really helped our timing and the offensive line really played great tonight to give us time to make plays."

"I think the offense was mad at themselves for not scoring any touchdowns," Lake Placid head coach Tim Grant said. "The key was that other players were making touchdown blocks that helped our guys make it to the end zone."

The win improves Class 2A Lake Placid to 2-1 on the season, while Moore Haven drops to 0-2.

The Lake Placid defense played stellar, causing a trio of fumbles and intercepting a pass from Moore Haven senior quarterback Antwonne McCloud, who was harassed all night by the Green Dragon defenders.

One of those fumbles was caused moments into the game, when the ball squirted out of McCloud's hands and Lake Placid's Rashaad Brown fell on it to give the Green Dragons the ball at the Terrier 25-yard line. Moments later, Brown pounded his way up the middle of Moor Haven's defense for the first score of the game and a 7-0 lead.

Scoring touchdowns would be the theme of this football game for Lake Placid, who scored on its first five possessions.

After holding Moore Haven to four and out, Veley started to heat up, connecting with Daniel Brinke on a 26-yard pass to put the ball near midfield. Chevontray Wilson was the beneficiary of the next Veley pass, when he caught a picture-perfect strike, slipped past two Terrier defenders and scampered into the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked but Lake Placid still enjoyed a 13-0 lead with five minutes left in the first.

"Chevontray looked like he wanted to score," Grant said. "Conlin really played well tonight. I thought he ran too much [against Celebration], but tonight he looked to be more patient and more confident in his receivers running their routes.

"All I can do is put them in a position to win, they are the ones who have to get the job done."

Brinke scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass by Veley just before the end of the quarter, putting a hit on junior Xavier Fagan at the goal line to get into the end zone and a commanding 19-0 lead.

Moore Haven's feature back, Jerrell Smith got the Terriers on the board, running a sweep to the left side and past the Lake Placid defenders for the score. The 2-point conversion run by McCloud cut the Green Dragon lead to just 11.

Veley got that touchdown back on the very next possession — a 60-yard bomb to a wide-open Richard Rooks — to increase the Lake Placid lead to 27-8 with 8:29 left before halftime. Three plays later, defensive back Zach Campbell intercepted McCloud's pass to give the Green Dragons the ball at the Moore Haven 16-yard line. Wilson took it home on the next play for a 33-8 lead, as Lake Placid scored two touchdowns in just over one minute.

Lake Placid linebacker Decarius Spencer had the hit of the game, when he came on a blitz from the weak side untouched to sack McCloud, who coughed up the ball for his second fumble of the game.

After that moment, the Green Dragon defense could be seen smiling on the field and possibly a sense of over-confidence welled up to dangerous proportions. Moore Haven saw and took advantage of the confidence level.

The Terriers marched 80-yards on seven plays, culminating in a 20-yard touchdown pass from McCloud to Fagan. McCloud ran into the end zone for the 2-point conversion and the Lake Placid lead was cut to 33-16.

Moore Haven pounced on a fumbled kick-off — the first Green Dragon turnover of the night. Starting from the Lake Placid 30-yard line, McCloud took the ball into end zone on a beautiful quarterback keeper to the right side for a 21-yard score.

The defensive lapse by the Green Dragons resulted in their lead now just 11 points with still over a quarter of football left to play.

Veley came through when it counted most, throwing a 52-yard touchdown to Rooks, his second of the game, for a 40-22 lead and the defense took over from that moment, holding Moore Haven to just 10 yards of offense the rest of the way, as the Green Dragons celebrated the win.

Grant was elated with the win, but his mind immediately went to the defensive lapses late in the game that could have cost them dearly.

"The defense let up a bit when we got the big lead," Grant said. "We let them know after the game that you can't let up. If you ease off, that gives the other team confidence and could easily backfire on you."

Next Friday, Lake Placid takes on Tampa Catholic (2-1) in the opener of the Class 2A-District 5 schedule for the Green Dragons.

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