Lake Oconee Academy’s football team is off to its best start in program history.
The Titans improved to 4-0 on the season with a close 35-34 win over Brentwood Academy last Friday.
“Brentwood was a very well-coached and disciplined team,” LOA head coach Patrick Stewart said. “That was a really big win for us.”
The Titans and the War Eagles went back and forth as the two teams traded scores throughout the first half.
Going into the second half, LOA led 28-21 and held off a Brentwood comeback to secure the win.
“Our kids kept battling, and our offense was clicking,” Stewart said. “We scored on every drive but two.”
Lake Oconee Academy’s rushing attack continued its dominance, totaling 205 rushing yards in this game.
Junior Walker Poyner rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, and senior quarterback Ike O’Neal also added a touchdown on the ground.
“We were able to hold on to the ball, and our running game was hitting on all cylinders,” Stewart said.
LOA’s defense has been the team’s backbone and played an important role against Brentwood.
“I’m really proud of the guys in how they prepared,” Stewart said.
Last week, Stewart said that Brentwood would be his team’s toughest test all year because of its Wing-T offense.
“With the Wing-T, you always have to be in the right alignment and know your assignment, and our kids did good,” Stewart said. “We tackled better this week than we did against Hancock, and that was a big key in this game.”
Stewart acknowledged sophomore Griffin Stanford and senior Reid Davis played a huge role in winning this game.
“Defensively, Griffin Stanford is our mike linebacker, and he did a tremendous job for us,” he said. “Griffin did a great job of getting our defense set.”
Davis totaled 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, and recovered a fumble in the third quarter.
“[Reid] was flying all over the place on defense and special teams,” Stewart added.
When LOA started its football program, Davis was a freshman but now has become a senior leader.
“We gave them tools, and they’ve spread those to the rest of the team, and that’s why we have such a great senior class,” Stewart said. “I attribute a lot of our success right now to them.”
The Titans look to continue that success this Friday against Glenn Hills.