Raiders pull away to defeat Lakewood

by John Lucas | Sep 14, 2019 | Articles, Midway

Wyatt Holland (11) goes to the air for Midway.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Midway pulled away late in a 42-22 varsity football win over visiting Sampson County rival Lakewood on Friday.

“We had to adjust,” said Midway coach Cory Barnes. “They started pushing the ball down the field with their trap plays and buck sweeps, all the things Wing-T teams do, and we had to adjust. They got us a couple of times. They’re a good football team and they’ve got good coaches over there. We just stepped up when we needed to. We’ve got a senior in ‘Foot’ (Cameron Barefoot) taking a pick six to seal the deal and put us up three scores. That’s senior leadership. We’ve got some good seniors. I felt like we didn’t have the ball at all in the second half (Lakewood dominated time of possession), but we got it done.”

Second-year Lakewood coach Barrett Sloan played quarterback at Midway. Friday’s game was his first back at Midway since his time playing there. Last year Midway’s stadium was named in honor of his father, legendary former Midway coach Tommy Sloan.

Both Barnes and Barrett Sloan are former Triton assistants.

Sophomore Wyatt Holland was 6-of-8 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 14 yards on six carries and senior Cameron Barefoot had three receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown, had a two-yard run and returned an interception for a touchdown to lead the Raiders (3-0).

“(Holland) is an intelligent kid and he’s calm,” Barnes said. “He never really gets too high or too low. He manages the game really well. And he throws a good ball. He’s solid.”

Deantae Byrd ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries and had a 20-yard reception. Jaden Covington had a 38-yard touchdown reception and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Cal Tyndall had a 20-yard pass completion and a 12-yard reception. Isaiah McClendon ran for 10 yards on two carries. Junior Acosta kicked a 26-yard field goal.

Junior Tillyon Williams ran for 154 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries to lead the Leopard (2-2).

Lakewood was the first team on the board late in the first quarter on a 10-yard Travis Crawford run, but Midway answered on the ensuing drive when Holland hit Barefoot in stride on a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter.

Holland completed another touchdown late in the second, this time to Covington for a 38-yard score.

With less than a minute to play in the first half, a miscue on a Lakewood punt gave Midway a short field, leading to Byrd scoring on a one-yard run. And an Isaiah McClendon interception on the ensuing drive allowed Acosta to kick a 26-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

Lakewood opened the third quarter with a drive that took 5:25 off of the clock and ended with Hayden Carter scoring on a one-yard run. But Midway immediately responded with Covington returning the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

Lakewood scored again near the end of the third on a five-yard Williams run.

Nearly halfway through the fourth, Byrd took an option pitch from Holland and ran it in from six yards out for another Midway touchdown.

Lakewood got into the red zone on the ensuing drive, but Midway put the game out of reach when Barefoot returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown.

Midway will be on the road for the first time on Friday to face county rival and fellow unbeaten Hobbton (4-0).

“It’s a big game,” Barnes said. “(Hobbton coach) Joe Salas has got Hobbton rolling over there. Their offense, they score it with the best of them. We’ve got to go get in the film room and see what they do, see what they do well and come up with a game plan to defend it. And we’ve got to go score, too. I expect a great game next Friday night.”