The Lakeland Hawks (2-0) football team is coming into the season strong winning their second game of the season against the Lake City Timberwolves (0-1) on Friday, August 30th.
The Hawks had been preparing for the season all summer getting on the field four days a week for practice, working on plays and weight lifting.
All of the hard work the Hawks put in over the summer was seen paying off when they stepped on the field at Lake City last Friday.
Micheal Schroeder has been head coach of the Hawks football team for 3 years and has been pushing the team all summer.
“When they had the opportunity in the second half they took an advantage that lead us to win the game,” Schroeder said, “We have that established when they have their chances they take advantage of it. We did not execute well the first half and I think I underestimated them a little bit. We played an easy game the first we and I think we got shell-shocked. We will be more ready as the season goes on.”
The Timberwolves took the lead in the first quarter of the game with a touchdown. The Hawks did not let a little lead make them give up, they kept pushing and making game-winning plays.
The Hawks were down by 7 in the first half of the game but Parker Sterling put them on the board with a 28-yard field goal with a minute left in the second quarter pulling the score to 7-3.
“I knew I could not miss the kick, Schroeder would not have been happy with me,” Sterling said, “It was a big kick because without it we would have gone into halftime down 7. The pressure was definitely on. I know I am good so, I need to be more confident and be less worried.”
Sterling is not the only one putting up points for the Hawks. Haydon Benson’s 1-yard sneak in the third quarter gained a touchdown for the Hawks.
“I had to trust my guys, the play was needed to score and we were down,” Benson said, “I knew that Lake City tried to stop us at the University of Idaho camp. I knew we had to push and stay low. I was nervous for the play because they have stopped us before. This play was gonna make us score and help with our motivation.”
Lovie Weil claimed the game in the fourth quarter running 95 yards with 5:41 remaining on the clock.
“I kept my energy up throughout the game by staying positive and holding everyone accountable,” Weil said, “Not a lot was going through my head during the play but it felt really good being able to clench the game-winning touchdown for my team. For our upcoming games we have to make perfections in our plays.”
The Timberwolves were not getting the game back and the Hawks took the game 17-7 with an outstanding and motivational win.
The Lakeland Hawks will be taking the field against Weiser on September 6th 7 p.m at LHS.
