Pioneers drop opener to Lake County

The Gibson County High School football team dropped their season home opener Friday night against Lake County at Yates field. The Pioneers won the coin toss and chose to receive the ball. GC junior Colin Warren returned the kickoff 20 yards to give Gibson County good field position at the 41-yard line. Gibson County’s offense moved the ball and picked up a couple of first downs with runs by Ozzy Rico and Payton Lamberson, and a catch by Donte Holder but was forced to punt. Gibson County’s defense forced Lake County to punt on their first possession. Neither team scored on their next possession. With a great punt from Gibson County Henry Todd, Lake County started at the four-yard line. The Pioneers defense applied pressure and forced Lake County to punt, giving Gibson County great field position at the 23-yard line. With back-to back runs from Rico and Lamberson, the Pioneers moved the ball to the 16-yard line. Pioneer quarterback Will Cantrell completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Holder for a touchdown but the extra point was no good. Gibson County took a 6 to 0 lead with 1:21 left in the first quarter.

Lake County scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the second quarter to take a 7 to 6 lead over Gibson County. The Pioneers were forced to punt on their next two possessions. With 1:33 left in the second quarter, Lake County scored a touchdown off a 17-yard pass but the two-point conversion was no good to give Lake County a 13 to 6 lead. With 24 seconds left in the second quarter, Pioneer defensive back Cam McMackin intercepted the ball at the 11-yard line and returned it back to the 47 yard line but time ran out before Gibson County could score, giving Lake County a 13 to 6 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, Gibson County had a tough time moving the ball and was not able to score. Lake County added two more touchdowns in the quarter to extend their lead to 25 to 6.

Lake County opened up the fourth quarter, scoring a touchdown to make it 31 to 6. Gibson County’s final drive started at the 50-yard line. The Pioneers moved the ball down field with runs by Rico, Lamberson, and Cantrell and two catches by Holder. With 1:22 left in the game, Pioneer quarterback Cantrell completed an eight-yard pass to wide receiver Holder for his second touchdown of the night. Gibson County fell 31 to 12 to Lake County.

Gibson County’s offense had total of 171 yards with 99 rushing and 72 yards passing with 22 first downs. Gibson County had eight penalties for 70 yards. Lake County had 284 rushing yards and 95 yards passing for a total of 379 yards with 32 first downs. Lake County had 11 penalties for 95 yards.

Sophomore Donte Holder was named the Pioneer Player of the Week against Lake County. Holder is a sophomore wide receiver and defensive back. He had six receptions for 56 yards with two touchdowns. See GCHS Scoreboard below sponsored by State Farm.

Leading in offense were Ozzy Rico with 14 carries for 66 yards, Cam McMackin with a catch for 16 yards, Colin Warren 20 yard kickoff return and Austin Little one carry for three yards. Quarterback Will Cantrell completed seven of 21 for 72 yards with two touchdowns. He also had five carries for 20 yards. Henry Todd had three kicks for 132 yards and six punts for 207 yards.

Leading defensively was Payton Lamberson with nine tackles; Guy Moffatt had six tackles and Kaleb Johnson added five tackles. Colin Warren, Jake Patterson, Cam McMackin and Caden Wylie each had four tackles. Austin Little and Noah Stafford had three tackles each. Cam McMackin had an interception.

Gibson County will host Halls Friday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. at Gibson County Yates Field.