LAKE MARY — In a game dubbed the Backyard Brawl, it turned into a classic heavyweight fight that went down to the wire, with Lake Mary coming out on top 24-21.
“Small things equal a three-point loss,” Seminole coach Karl Calhoun said. “But I’m proud. The guys played really hard for the entire game against a good team. We had a few penalties and a couple of untimely turnovers, but we played really well.”
Seminole struck first in the brawl with an Austin Plebanski field goal. Lake Mary responded with 11 minutes left in the first half when quarterback Noah Grub found his receiver for a 31-yard touchdown.
Ten minutes of back-and-forth football later, Seminole quarterback J’len Chaplin connected with Markel Barber on a 36-yard touchdown pass. Plebanski’s extra point gave the Noles a 10-7 lead.
Chaplin finished the night 16-of-22 for 240 yards passing and added 150 more on the ground to lead Seminole.
Following a Rams field goal that tied the game with five minutes left in the third quarter, Lake Mary took the lead on a 96-yard interception return for a touchdown with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter.
Seminole cut into the Rams’ lead when Plebanski hit his second field goal of the game, this time from 26 yards out with seven minutes left.
On the ensuing Rams drive, Seminole’s Omari Griffin intercepted a Grub pass and returned it to the Lake Mary 7-yard line. Chaplin punched it in from there for a Seminole touchdown, and the Noles added the two-point conversion to take a 21-17 lead with under five minutes to play.
“That was a terrific play at a crucial time,” Calhoun said of his senior defender. “Omari was roaming the middle of the field and got that interception for us. That turned into a score plus the two-point conversion.”
Two minutes later, however, Grub found the end zone again — this time on a 14-yard quarterback scramble for the game-winning touchdown.
“It’s Lake Mary–Seminole. We know what kind of game it’s going to be every time,” Calhoun said. “We were playing man-to-man, and Noah made a great play.”
Seminole hosts Spruce Creek on Oct. 17 for Homecoming. Game time is 7 p.m.
