Lions lose thunder after storm

The King’s Academy allows 31 unanswered points By Chris Silcox chris@theheraldnewspapers.com The biggest blow dealt to The King’s Academy Lions Friday night was from Mother Nature herself. Unaka used the precarious playing conditions of the early fall evening to its advantage and scored 31 unanswered second half points to storm past The King’s Academy 40-9 Friday at TKA. Mrs. Nature unleashed a lightning storm through Seymour that brought with it a 70-minute delay of the third quarter during The King’s Academy’s contest with Unaka. At the point of the delay, the Lions (3-4) had scrapped to a 9-9 tie through a hard-hitting first half with nine unanswered second-quarter points. However, when play was resumed in the third quarter visiting Unaka (4-3) answered the bell with lightning-like precision. The visitors broke the tie with an eight-yard Dustin Taylor touchdown run at the 8:03 mark of the third quarter. Michael Carpenter added the two-point conversion run and the onslaught was on. Unaka drove through the Lions’ defense on the way to a five-yard Brandon Medina score followed by another Carpenter two-point conversion run. All of the sudden the visitors led 25-9 going into the final 12 minutes. Dylan Yankee danced into the end zone for Unaka with 7:43 left to play and Carpenter again added the conversion. Medina victimized the Lions’ stunned run-defense again when he broke a 50-yard jaunt with 2:33 left. Aaron Pierce then came on to successfully kick an extra-point. Before the momentum-changing weather delay, it appeared the Lions had the advantage after surviving a physical second half with the score knotted at 9-9. Unaka lit the scoreboard first when Jeremy Sommers dropped the Lions’ Tyler Hall in his own end zone for a safety at the 4:22 mark of the first period. The visitors added another first quarter score on a Dustin Taylor six-yard scamper to pay dirt with 1:17 left in the opening stanza. Pierce kicked his first extra-point following the Taylor touchdown and Unaka led 9-0. The Lions scored the sum of their points in the second quarter. Lions’ quarterback Brett Weaver is playing like the most well-rounded signal-caller in the county, and the senior was at the top of his game minutes prior to the lightning storm in the second quarter. Weaver used his leg and his arm to help guide the Lions’ offense down the field crisply to set up a 36-yard field goal by fellow senior Gareth Rowlands to put the home team on the board with 9:31 left in the first half. In the final minute of the half with the storm looming in the background, Weaver directed a Lions’ drive that had the Unaka defense on its heels. Weaver was accurate through the air and was also keeping the opposing defense off-balanced by scrambling to move the chains as the final seconds of the first half ticked off the clock. The highlight for The King’s Academy happened 37 seconds before the halftime break when Weaver bought some time by scrambling around his offensive backfield before finding 6-foot-4 receiver Andy Deatherage in the end zone for a game tying TD. As a prelude to what would unfold in the next few minutes, the reliable Rowlands was off-target on the ensuing extra-point that would have given the Lions their only lead of the night. Deatherage had another sterling game for the Lions, hauling in five catches for 77 yards, including the touchdown catch. He also stepped in front of a Unaka pass for an interception that he returned 22 yards. Weaver had 11 carries for 42 yard. He was forced to pass in a desperation mode late in the game, completing just 9-or-25 attempts for 155 yards. Rowlands was credited with nine stops on defense. He also had 39 yards rushing on eight attempts and three catches for 68 yards on offense. The King’s Academy lost three fumbles compared to just one for Unaka. The Lions also lost two interceptions compared to just one for Unaka, who only threw the ball five times in the contest. The most glaring difference in the contest was a resounding 398 rushing yards for the visitors compared to only 103 for TKA.