Lake Oconee Academy concluded its non-region competition a week after taking a tough shutout loss at home to Brentwood. The Titans (4-1) redeemed themselves on Sept. 25 with a 38-7 home win over Towers High School and now look ahead to opening region play against Greene County.
Titans Head Coach Patrick Stewart said that his players did a great job on Friday night, responding to a “very physical” Towers High School lineup. He emphasized that they improved drastically with “fundamentals,” which they practiced over the days following their Sept. 18 loss.
“We got after it up front and were more physical at the point of attack. And Cam Jeter and Jake McDonald had a great day. And then Logan Davis defensively and on the offensive line led the charge up front too,” Stewart said. “The main thing is we improved our physicality and fundamentals.
“We’re just continuing to master what we do, and it’s not like we changed a lot from scheme-wise or anything like that.”
Lake Oconee Academy started the game on a high note, outscoring Towers High School 17-0 in the first quarter.
Junior kicker Poli Medrano added the Titans’ first points with a 38-yard field goal, with senior running back Kam Geter rushing 40 yards into the end zone shortly after. Senior running back Griffin Stanford then ran a 25-yard touchdown to cap LOA’s first-quarter scoring.
Junior quarterback Jake McDonald went four-for-nine, throwing for 89 yards, an interception, and a 33-yard touchdown pass to Geter in the second quarter. Stanford later ran a 21-yard touchdown to take a 31-0 halftime lead.
McDonald sealed the score at 38-7 when punching a singleyard touchdown into the end zone in the fourth quarter.
The Titans offense relied heavily on the running game Friday night, totaling 175 yards. Stewart explained why the offense has run the ball heavily over the past few games, noting it has been effective against multiple opponents.
“I wouldn’t say we really intended to do [mostly runs on offense], but we just were successful at it,” Stewart said. “In a game, if you have a good flow of it, then it’s important just to keep doing it until they can stop it, and Towers really couldn’t stop us [from doing so].”
As the Titans prepare for their region opener, Stewart said it’s important that his players continue to “respond well to adversity.” Regardless, he said that the team will treat the upcoming match “as if it were any other game,” since power rankings began this season.
“Our region’s a tough one, but with the power rankings that they switched to this year, we’ve treated every game like it’s a region match,” Stewart said. I don’t think we switch anything up mindset-wise, but we need to keep doing what we’re doing and get better.”
Overall, Stewart said that to beat Greene County, his team must contain the Tigers’ offense. He noted that he sees his players beginning to recognize the importance of the remaining matchups, as they face these opponents every season.
“[Going into region] the mindset is just to have more of an impact, because you see these teams every year,” Stewart said. “Greene County is big up front, so we must do a good job of scheming our guys and taking advantage of that. If we play our brand of football, I think we should be okay.”