Lake Wales Handles Avon Park

AVON PARK --

Playing an experienced and talented squad like Lake Wales in their kickoff classic gave the Avon Park football team an idea of how much work they have ahead of them.

Lake Wales senior quarterback Javarious Riley showed they have a long way to go after throwing for two touchdowns and running for another in just one half of action to lead the Highlanders past the Red Devils 46-6 on Friday night at Joe Franza Stadium.

"This isn't the way we wanted to start off," said first-year Avon Park coach Andy Bonjokian. "We had a couple of bad plays and things kind of got away from us.

"This game showed us that we need to improve our conditioning and that we've got a long way to go and a lot of work to do to become a good football team."

Avon Park, which was missing starting senior quarterback Albert Moses, had trouble moving the ball consistently behind sophomore quarterback Aviere Conner, and turned the ball over four times against an aggressive Highlanders' defense.

Conner, under relentless pressure all game, completed 2 of 7 passes for 12 yards with one interception.

"Avierre showed a lot of composure and did the best he could against a good defense," Bonjokian said. "We had a good effort, but with a lot of guys going both ways, we got worn down in the second half."

The first play of the game gave a glimpse of things to come when Lake Wales returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, but the score was negated by an illegal block.

The Highlanders took possession at the Red Devil 26 and scored in five plays, as Riley rolled out to his left and hooked up with Leon Richardson for a 12-yard touchdown pass.

The point-after by Marcelo Bonani gave Lake Wales a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game.

"The coaches said that Lake Wales will be the best team we face all year, and I thought our defense did a pretty good job overall," said Avon Park senior safety Steven Prevatt. "We were in the game and then we made some mistakes that Lake Wales took advantage of.

"We're going to get better because this team has a lot of drive and heart and the seniors are going to lead the way."

After forcing Avon Park to punt, Lake Wales drove inside the Red Devil 40, but Virgil Cooper intercepted a pass by sophomore quarterback Justin Shafer to end the threat.

Avon Park marched 60 yards in seven plays with junior tailback Teddy Allen, who finished with 32 rushing yards, scoring on a 3-yard run off right tackle.

The key plays were an Avierre 15-yard scramble, an offside's penalty and a 43-yard run by Cooper.

The extra point was blocked and the Red Devils trailed 7-6 with 3:04 remaining in the first period.

"The offensive line did a good job of blocking and Teddy ran hard," said Bonjokian. "We just need to be more consistent in our execution."

Lake Wales answered by marching 70 yards in 12 plays with Riley finding Colton Davis open over the middle for an 18-yard touchdown.

The point-after was wide left to give the Highlanders a 13-6 lead with 9:33 remaining in the second stanza.

Avon Park's defense thwarted another Lake Wales scoring threat midway through the quarter when Shafer fumbled and senior defensive end Cleveland Nobles recovered the ball at the Devil 35.

Though Lake Wales had dominated the action, it looked like Avon Park would trail by only seven points heading into the half.

The Red Devils were forced to punt from deep in their own territory and a low snap to Nobles allowed the Highlanders to get through and block the punt.

Senior defensive back Ray Grant scooped up the loose ball and raced 13 yards for the score.

The extra point gave Lake Wales a 20-6 lead with 25.3 seconds remaining in the half.

"That was a big play in the game," said Bonjokian. "Special teams hurt us tonight and we've got to look at the way we run them and who is on the field.

"That play put us in a bad position and gave Lake Wales the momentum heading into halftime."

The Highlanders forced Avon Park to punt to open the second half and then moved 66 yards in nine plays with Riley scrambling for a 12-yard touchdown

"He was pretty quick," said Prevatt. "We had some breakdowns in coverage, but we're going to work on that in practice this week."

The point-after was wide right, but Lake Wales still led 26-6 with a minute left in the third period.

Avon Park, which had four turnovers, fumbled on its next possession and the Highlanders took advantage as Shafer, who completed 4-of-10 passes for 70 yards, found Quamel Johnson open over the middle for a 25-yard touchdown.

The extra point put Lake Wales on top 33-6 heading into the final quarter.

Avon Park, which was led by Cooper's 58 rushing yards, substituted freely in the final period as Lake Wales tacked on two more scores.

The Red Devils learned a lot from this preseason game and will be working hard to prepare for next Friday's game against Ridge Community.

"I told the kids to hang in there," Bonjokian said. "We're going to strap it on each week and our goal is to improve each time we step on the field.

"We have to continue to play hard, give good effort and things will turn around for us."

Lake Wales 46, Avon Park 6 Friday at Avon Park

Lake Wales 7 13 13 13 - 46

Avon Park 6 0 0 0 - 6

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

LW - Riley 12 pass to Richardson (Bonani kick)

AP - Allen 3 run (Calero kick blocked)