Lake Oconee Academy had its first home game of the season on Sept. 12, hosting Glenn Hills in Greensboro.
The Titans beat the Spartans 49-6 and finished the first half of the season with a 2-3 overall record.
LOA head coach Patrick Stewart was pleased with the team’s performance throughout the night, which included scores from the offensive, defensive, and special teams units. He was also happy to have the team back on its home field after opening the season with four straight road games.
“It was good to be back home and play on our turf, and the special teams, offense, and defense all scored,” Stewart said. “So when you have a night like that, that’s awesome.”
Despite the Titans’ 43-point margin of victory, Stewart believes that the team has many things to improve going forward. He mentioned that multiple penalties occurred throughout the game, and need to be prevented in the future, especially with region play opening up in a few weeks.
“The score looks great, but we had a lot of penalties, and so we’re still working on [improving] that,” Stewart said. “When we play outstanding teams like [those in] our region, we won’t be able to have those types of penalties and self-inflicted wounds.”
Lake Oconee Academy added points to the board early in the first quarter, when sophomore running back Marcus Rhodes ran for a 48-yard touchdown.
Rhodes had a total of three touchdowns during the matchup. He caught two balls for 36 yards receiving, while rushing for 131 yards on nine attempts with two touchdowns.
“Marcus Rhodes had a heck of a game,” Stewart said. “Our offensive line did a really great job of opening up gaps and holes for him to run through to score those three touchdowns.”
Sophomore quarterback Jake McDonald had a successful night, where he completed 4 of 7 pass attempts for 106 yards and two touchdowns.
Stewart credited McDonald for leading the offense, and believes the offensive line helped him and “held up well in the passing game.”
“(Jake) McDonald was leading the offense really well, had a great passing game, and also put us in the right position to win,” Stewart said. “When you can run the ball really well, that opens up the passing game, and so that’s what helped us.”
The Titans’ successful performance also included efforts from junior running back Ty Hiter, who scored a touchdown on both offense and defense. Hiter caught a 72-yard touchdown pass from McDonald, and also scored on a Glenn Hills special teams blunder.
Offensively, Alden Barreras and Griffin Stanford also had rushing touchdowns.
Defensively, the Spartans only scored once on a busted coverage play by the LOA defense. The Titans’ secondary made up for it as Dylan Hiter and Adrian Dunn picked off passes.
Stewart was especially happy to see Dunn’s play because of his efforts over the past few years with the program.
“He’s been working so hard for the past four years; he’s a guy that just never complains about playing time and never gives any excuses,” Stewart said. “It was good to see him rewarded with a pick finally, and to see the team get excited, because they love him.”
LOA will have one more non-region game this Friday as it hosts Landmark Christian this Friday. The War Eagles defeated the Titans 37-24 last season and are off to a 4-0 start this season.
“Landmark Christian is a really well-coached team and they’ve got some great athletes,” Stewart said. “This is going to be a battle, and it’s going to be a four-quarter game, if not more.”