LAKE WALES – Lake Wales came within a yard of knocking off one of the best high school football teams in Florida Friday night.
In the end, Head Coach Tavaris Johnson had a decision to make: play for overtime or play to win.
He chose to go for the win.
The Highlanders came up just short on the two-point conversion, allowing DeLand to escape Legion Field with a 35-34 victory in a wild season opener that may have told Lake Wales far more about its football team than an easy opening-night victory would have.
DeLand entered the matchup ranked No. 1 in Class 6A and figures to be one of the most difficult opponents Lake Wales will see all season. Johnson deliberately scheduled a difficult opponent early, and his Highlanders showed they could stand toe-to-toe with one of the state’s top programs.
It didn’t look that way at first.
DeLand jumped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead before Lake Wales answered with 14 points in the second quarter. The Bulldogs took a 21-14 advantage into halftime.
Both teams scored twice in the third quarter, and DeLand eventually built a 35-21 advantage in the fourth.
Lake Wales could have folded.
Instead, the Highlanders made a furious comeback.
Lake Wales scored to cut the deficit to seven and then recovered an onside kick, giving the Highlanders another opportunity. They found the end zone again, pulling within 35-34 late in the fourth quarter.
That left Johnson with the biggest decision of the night.
Kick the extra point and potentially send the game to overtime, or put the game in the hands of his offense and try to beat the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs right then.
Johnson went for two.
Quarterback Kingston Loydd took the ball up the middle but was stopped just short of the goal line, leaving DeLand with the one-point advantage and ultimately the victory.
Despite the loss, Lake Wales showed plenty offensively.
According to statistics posted to MaxPreps, Loydd completed 14 of 21 passes for 235 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Kamari Smith rushed 16 times for 86 yards, while Kaneilius Purdy had a huge night through the air, catching nine passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
The performance was particularly encouraging considering the level of competition.
DeLand isn’t the type of opponent most teams would choose when looking for an easy way to begin a season. For Johnson and the Highlanders, however, Friday night’s game provided an early measuring stick. Lake Wales walked away 0-1, but also walked away knowing it was only inches away from beating one of Florida’s top-ranked teams.
Unfortunately, the football wasn’t the only thing people were talking about following the game.
An apparent disagreement between a Lake Wales assistant football coach and the Lake Wales High School band resulted in the band leaving Legion Field before the game was over.
Multiple people in attendance told Daily Ridge they witnessed the incident or noticed the band leaving the stadium early.
A message reportedly written by Lake Wales band director Meagan Delacerda and shared with band parents Saturday provides her account of what happened.
In the message, Delacerda reportedly wrote that the band did not leave because it lacked school spirit or support for the football team, but because she believed her students were being treated disrespectfully.
According to the message, Delacerda alleges the disagreement between members of the football coaching staff and the band is not new. She claimed assistant coaches have attempted to get the band to stop playing or play quieter during games over the past three years.
She reportedly wrote that she had previously warned that if it happened again, the band would pack up and leave.
Importantly, the message attributed to Delacerda does not place the blame on Head Coach Tavaris Johnson or the football players.
In fact, Delacerda reportedly praised Johnson’s relationship with the band, writing, “Coach Johnson has said how much he loves us and supports us numerous times.”
She also urged parents not to turn the situation into a football-versus-band dispute, saying the students support one another and characterizing the issue as involving only a small number of assistant coaches.
Delacerda reportedly told parents she is scheduled to meet Monday with school administration and members of the coaching staff regarding the situation.
The decision to leave the stadium, however, also drew criticism from some parents who became aware of Delacerda’s explanation.
“It made us look like sore losers,” one parent said of the band leaving before the game had ended.
Another parent, who does not have a student involved in either the football program or the band but was aware of the message attributed to Delacerda, felt there was plenty of blame to go around.
The parent said that if tensions between members of the football coaching staff and the band have been an ongoing problem, they should have been addressed long before Friday night and in a much more professional manner. In the parent’s view, neither the actions of the assistant coach nor the decision to pull the band from the stadium sent the right message to students.
Daily Ridge has not independently verified the claims regarding previous incidents described in the message, and there may be additional context surrounding Friday night’s exchange. What is clear is that the disagreement became visible enough that spectators noticed the band leaving Legion Field before one of the most dramatic Lake Wales football games in recent memory had ended.
Hopefully, Monday’s meeting provides an opportunity for those involved to address the issue away from the sidelines. Both the football program and band are made up primarily of students who spend countless hours preparing to represent Lake Wales High School, and neither should become caught in the middle of a disagreement between adults.
For the Highlanders on the field, the season moves forward.
Lake Wales will travel to Sebring next Friday for another non-district matchup. Sebring enters that game following a 21-0 victory over Ridge Community.
If Friday night was the measuring stick Johnson wanted for his football team, the Highlanders showed they aren’t far away.
