Lemon Bay Rallies Past Lake Placid

ENGLEWOOD -- Senior running back Robby Blume saved his best performance of the year for last, rushing for 186 yards and three touchdowns to lead Lemon Bay to a 33-14 victory over Lake Placid Friday night.

Blume scored on touchdown runs of 34, 66, and 30 yards, while fellow senior Keren Emmanuel added 78 yards and a 24-yard TD scamper. The Manta Rays finished with 431 yards of total offense, while the Green Dragons managed 224.

"We were hoping to go out on a better note," said Lake Placid coach Tim Grant. Instead, the Dragons dropped their seventh consecutive game, finishing the season with a 2-8 record.

"We moved the ball pretty well on them," said Grant. "We just had a couple of things go wrong."
Nothing went wrong for the Dragons early in the game, as the defense stopped Lemon Bay without a first down on its first possession. Lake Placid took over and moved 57 yards in eight plays for a 7-0 lead with 5:25 to go in the first quarter. Josh Hickey carried three times for 35 yards during the march, including a 20-yard touchdown run.

Lemon Bay answered with Emmanuel's 24-yard scoring jaunt, but a two-point conversion pass was overthrown, and the Dragons maintained a 7-6 lead.

The Lake Placid defense came up big on Lemon Bay's next possession, stopping quarterback Josh Freeman on fourth-and-inches at the Dragons 25-yard line. The Dragons then moved into Lemon Bay territory where things started to unravel, as Jake Berwind intercepted a Conlin Veley pass and returned it 25 yards to the Lake Placid 45 yard line. Blume picked up a first down with a seven-yard pass reception, then burst 34 yards up the middle for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:29 to go in the half.

Lake Placid was forced to punt on its opening possession of the third quarter, and two plays later, Blume's 66-yard run gave the Mantas a 19-7 lead.

Lemon Bay tried a fake punt on its next possession, but the pass was incomplete, giving LP the ball at the 47. Berwind then intercepted Veley for the second time at the Mantas' 35, and three plays later, Freeman hit Mike Lauer in stride with a 71-yard touchdown pass, making the score 26-7.

Lake Placid would not go quietly, as Rashaad Brown returned the ensuing kickoff to the Lemon Bay 22. Although the Dragons were stopped on downs, the Mantas fumbled the ball right back. Hickey carried for 15 yards to the eight yard line, setting up Veley's five yard touchdown dash to the corner of the end zone, cutting the lead to 26-14 with 6:43 to play.

But Lake Placid's onside kickoff failed to go the required ten yards, setting Lemon Bay up at the Dragons 42 yard line. Blume's third touchdown run of the night put an end to Lake Placid's comeback hopes.

The Dragons rushed for 197 yards on the night. Hickey led the way with 91 yards on 15 carries, while Brown added 58 yards on eight attempts. Veley completed only 3 of 15 passes for 27 yards.
"We tried throwing it a little bit," said Grant, "but Conlin was still a little bit rusty from his shoulder injury."

For Lemon Bay, which had totalled only 250 yards of offense while being shutout in its past three games, it was a positive ending to a disappointing season. The Mantas finished 4-6, but two of the wins were by forfeit when opposing teams were found to have used ineligible players.

"Our seniors knew it was their last chance," said coach Mike Messina. "They stepped up and played a good game."

"They were a little bit better than us tonight," said Grant. "We'll have to get back to the weight room and get bigger and stronger for next year."