Landmark Christian defeated Lake Oconee Academy 35-7 during LOA’s homecoming game on Sept. 19.
The Titans’ loss to the War Eagles leaves them at 2-4 overall as region play starts Oct. 3, after the Titans’ bye week.
Despite the defeat, LOA head coach Patrick Stewart believes his players showed promise in many areas. He notes that turnovers and “self-inflicted wounds” played a significant role in the loss.
“We had three turnovers and one takeaway, and when they win the turnover margin, statistically, they are going to win the game,” Stewart said. “We controlled the clock pretty well, as best as we could in that first half, and we’ve just got to keep it up and build off of that because we actually showed some promising things.”
The Titans scored their only points of the game in the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Jake McDonald threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to running back CJ Stembridge.
McDonald completed 4 of 11 passes for 69 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the loss.
Stembridge had 84 receiving yards and rushed for 54 yards on 10 attempts, including a 32-yard reception in the second quarter for a touchdown.
During the second half, Stembridge fumbled the ball on LOA’s 25-yard line and took a hard hit in the process. The game was briefly delayed due to concerns about the severity of his injury, and he was on the field for a few minutes before being taken off on a cart.
Stewart said later, however, that Stembridge will be good to play in the Titans’ next game against Washington-Wilkes.
“He’ll be okay going into region play,” Stewart said. “It looked a lot worse than it actually was, but he just has a strain on his calf. We have a bye week next week, which is good, and we’ll regroup, get everybody healthy.”
Despite multiple turnovers, Stewart believes the offense had numerous strong points, especially on the offensive line and among “skill players,” who he “moved around” during the game.
Several players on the LOA defense made contributions throughout the game, including Titans senior Corrion Jernigan intercepted a pass from Landmark Christian quarterback Skylar Hamilton in the second half.
Stewart said he hopes to see the defense maintain focus on key opposing players during the games.
“Defensively, we’ve just got to continue with our DBs not to get beaten behind us,” Stewart said. “When you have more athletic guys than you, you can’t waver your eyes, and so we have to get better at that.”
The Titans’ next game will be at Washington-Wilkes on Oct. 3, after their bye week. Stewart hopes the team can “regroup” after taking Monday off from practice this week.
“[That way] everybody can have some downtime, and then Tuesday through Friday, we will just work on us, work on fundamentals, get ready for Washington- Wilkes,” Stewart said.
LOA will return home Oct. 10, when it will face Warren County in its second region matchup.