Victory Christian pulls out last-second win at Lakeland Christian in District 1S-5 showdown

Stewart scraps tying field goal attempt, opts for do-or-die touchdown and wins

LAKELAND, FLORIDA – Kendrick Stewart is fearless.

The Victory Christian head coach proved it Friday opting to go for a risky last-second touchdown on the road at Lakeland Christian instead of booting a 22-yard, game-tying field goal and battling into overtime during a Florida high school football classic.

Lined up in the wildcat offense, the gamble paid off when sophomore running back Zyrell Thomas took a handoff from his brother Martell and plowed toward the end zone. As he was being tackled to the turf, he reached his arm out and stretched the ball just over the goal line for a 19-16 win as time expired in a Class 1S, District 5 showdown.

“It was an amazing feeling. I just trusted my blockers and kept running,” Thomas said. “It was a God-given run. … I reached over, got my facemask pulled, and I was just hoping I got in there.”

It was only the third meeting between the two Lakeland-based small school programs, with LCS winning the two previous marquee showdowns last year, 28-27 in overtime, and 16-15 in the 1S regional playoffs.

“It would have been a nightmare (if we lost to LCS again),” Stewart said. “Something you can’t wake up from.” 

Lakeland Victory Christian quarterback Jackson Benton hands the ball off during an instant classic district showdown win at Lakeland Christian,  / Bill Kemp

Stewart said he settled on going for the winning touchdown after several timeouts were called before the final snap, and a Thomas dream outweighed the possibility of a living nightmare.

“Zyrell is a sophomore, and he said he dreamed about this moment,” Stewart said. “He dreamed about it, so we gave him that. We just came in and believed. We had this game circled, and I just want to give to God.

“At the end, we were like, do we want to tie it? I don’t know. You don’t want to go to war with these guys and go back-and-forth, so we just decided to have some guts.”

Victory had taken a 7-3 halftime lead, after a 42-yard touchdown reception from Jackson Benton to Jozie Scott culminated an 80-yard first-quarter drive. LCS answered with a 35-yard field goal by Adrian Villanueva with one minute left in the quarter.

Lakeland Christian took its first lead of the game in the third quarter after Killian O’Neal scored on a 1-yard run to put LCS up 9-7.

In the fourth, Victory reclaimed the lead when Storm senior quarterback Jackson Benton found Andrew Morrison in the corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown pass. 

But with 1:58 left in the game, Lakeland Christian took a 16-13 lead when O’Neal scored his second touchdown on another 1-yard run straight through the heart of the Victory defensive line.

With the win, Victory Christian forced a three-way tie in the 1S-District 5 standings with LCS and Zephyrhills Christian all finishing with 1-1 marks. Victory improved to 5-3 overall and will host Fort Pierce John Carroll Catholic while LCS fell to 5-2 and will travel to Clearwater Calvary Christian.