Football: Lakewood 35, Boca Ciega 0

ST. PETERSBURG — For the first 24 minutes Friday against Boca Ciega, Lakewood wasn’t playing its typical dominating brand of football.

Penalties, missed blocks and overthrown passes had the Spartans leading just 7-0 heading into the halftime.

Less than three minutes into the second half, the Spartans (4-0) capitalized on two mistakes from the Pirates to score 14 points and propel Lakewood to a fourth consecutive shutout victory, 35-0.

“We just had to get into the flow of the game,” Lakewood coach Cory Moore said. “We had to adjust to how the game was being played.”

After taking multiple drives into Lakewood territory during the first half, Boca Ciega opened the second half with two mistakes.

On its first drive, Boca Ciega quarterback/punter Taffrey Peterman took a low snap and accidentally kneeled down, turning the ball over on downs deep into Pirates territory. Two plays later, Lakewood quarterback Deuce Spann found Artez Hooker for a 22-yard touchdown.

On the first play of its next possession, Boca Ciega turned the ball over on a botched snap. Lakewood running back Derrel Kelley punched it in a few plays later.

“In the first half we started slow,” Spann said. “In the second half, we heated up a little bit. The offensive line did a great job opening it up for us.”

To cap off an explosive third quarter, Spann took the ball on Lakewood’s following possession and raced up the middle for 70 yards. Spann finished the game with 103 yards rushing.

“I ran track, so I try to work on my speed,” he said.

Moore said the team’s speed is among the best his program has ever seen.

“It’s a blessing to have a lot of speed,” he said. “And not just speed, but we have a lot of intelligent, fast kids who actually understand the game, which is awesome. They’re able to develop to how the game is playing that night. This is a very, very special team.”

Coming off a game against Tarpon Springs where Boca Ciega scored 88 points, the Pirates looked poised to put up the first points of the season against Lakewood. The Spartans kept their shutout streak alive, however, despite committing 17 penalties in the game.

Kelley said practicing against the Lakewood defense has improved the team’s offense.

“They like to blitz on us in practice,” he said. “They always give us a good look. We’re just trying to make each other better."

With the meat of its schedule coming up, including an anticipated matchup against powerhouse Madison County in two weeks, Moore said the Spartans will need to work on discipline.

“We have to clean up on some things,” Moore said. We’re going to play other teams that we can’t afford to have these penalties. We’re gonna work on the small things, which means so much.”