Evans stuns Lake Brantley in a Monday Night Football district battle

Trojans hold Patriots to one TD, 103 total yards in 13-8 win

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – If the Evans High football team was looking for a signature win this season, they definitely found it on Monday night.

Spurred on by a swarming defense that forced two turnovers and allowed just 103 total yards, the Trojans stunned visiting Lake Brantley, 13-8, in a Class 4 Metro, District 2 game. Evans (2-5 overall, 1-1 in 4M-2) won its second straight game and snapped Lake Brantley’s four-game win streak in one of the biggest surprises of the 2022 season.

Jermaine Hardy scored the winning touchdown from 6 yards out with 4 minutes, 30 seconds left after Lake Brantley had forged ahead 8-7 earlier in the fourth quarter on a 4-yard TD run by Tavin Hebert.

Quarterback Chris Peterson had 185 total yards and a 2-yard TD run to lead Evans. His score gave the Trojans a 7-0 halftime lead as the schools battled it out defensively.

“I can honestly say the kids played hard,” Evans coach Kenard Lang said. “We started off the year kind of shaky. We were just trying to figure out a little bit who we are.

“This is a good, little step for us,” Lang said. “Now, we got Lake Mary coming up this coming week. The great thing about it is, we beat a quality team.”

Evans’ defense helped pin this win down, to be sure. The Trojans chased Lake Brantley star quarterback Braxton Woodson, a Navy commit, silly all night long.

Evans' defense swarms Lake Brantley quarterback Braxton Woodson (5) on Monday night. The Trojans held the Eagles to just 103 yards, keying a 13-8 victory / Photo by Jeff Garenour

Lang praised senior linebacker/lineman Nehemiah Lindor, senior defensive end Kelvin Tobie, and senior defensive tackle Leroy Boone (6-foot, 245 pounds) for superb play. Boone’s sack of Woodson on a 4th-down play from the Patriots’ 29-yard line with 2:29 left was one of the biggest plays of the game.

“The defense was lights out,” Lang said. “One thing is always true: offense sells tickets, defense wins championships.”

Lake Brantley (4-2, 1-1) also was its worst enemy at times, turning the ball over on downs after Evans blew an onside kick on the opening kickoff and then fumbling the ball away to set up the Trojans’ first score by Peterson.

The Trojans went 28 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead with 5:34 left in the second quarter. Peterson ran three times for 15 yards and completed a 10-yard pass on the drive.

That score stood up until the fourth quarter as Lake Brantley turned the ball over on downs and lost another fumble to start the second half. But then the Patriots made a huge play when linebacker Andrew Harris, an Under Armour All-American, intercepted a pass and raced 64 yards to the Evans 4-yard line. Hebert then scored on the next play with 11:04 remaining and added the two-point run to put the Patriots ahead 8-7.

Hebert finished with 71 yards rushing.

But Evans came right back with an impressive 12-play, 71-yard drive that culminated with a 6-yard TD run from Hardy.

Lake Brantley had two more chances to go for the win, but turned the ball over on downs each time.

“I think my defense played well,” said Lake Brantley coach Skip Clayton. “They had two moments there that they looked a little rusty. We looked like a team that hadn’t played in two weeks.”

Clayton said the Patriots were hurt by an ankle injury to running back Landon Paquette that limited his carries on Thursday night. And Lake Brantley lost star offensive lineman David Leete (6-5, 260) to an injury earlier in the year. But the Lake Brantley coach tipped his hat to Evans.

“They came out and played tough,” he said. “They played a game (last Thursday) and then turned around and played again.

“They have players all over the place,” Clayton said, “and when the execute, they can play football.”