For just the second time in school history, the Marlboro County High football team fell to the Lakewood Gators.
For the third consecutive week the Bulldogs had to recover from an early two-touchdown deficit.  Although Marlboro managed to get back in the game, actually taking the lead briefly in the third quarter, the Gators rallied for a 24-14 victory to put a damper on Marlboro’s homecoming game.
Marlboro County looked to have taken the lead with their first offensive play of the night.  Elijah Chalmers gathered in a screen pass from quarterback Timond Byrd and raced up the home sidelines.
However, a penalty negated the play and moments later, a bobbled pass was called a fumble, setting up the Lakewood offense at the Marlboro County 13.
The Bulldog defense was able to hold the Gators out, turning the ball over on downs at the four.
Marlboro couldn’t move and had to punt from their own endzone.  Lakewood took over at the Marlboro 20.
This time the Gators made the most of the gift.  A 4-yard run put Lakewood up 6-0.
The generous Bulldogs gave the ball right back after a snap sailed over Byrd’s head.  Lakewood took over at the Marlboro 5.
After a holding penalty backed the Gators up, they scored on a 15-yard sweep play.  They missed on their second two-point conversion attempt but had a 12-0.
The Bulldogs turned to the ground game, pounding the middle of the line with running backs Tyrell Bridges, Devonte Tyson and Marte Simmons.
After reaching the Gators’ 18, the Bulldogs went to the air to get in the endzone.  Byrd hit Jalen Plato with a short pass and the Marlboro speedster out ran the defense to the corner of the endzone.
Andrew Martinez booted through the extra point, cutting the Marlboro deficit to 12-7 at the half.
The Bulldogs took the lead with their first possession of the second half.  Byrd finished the drive with a 28-yard run straight up the middle of the field.
The extra point gave the Bulldogs a 14-12 lead, the first time they had been ahead since the opening game of the season five weeks before.
The lead was short-lived.  With their next possession, Lakewood drove from midfield quickly to the endzone.  They capped the 7-play drive with an 11-yard run.
A penalty derailed the ensuing Marlboro drive and on the next possession, an interception allowed the Gators to seal the victory.
After picking off the pass on their side of the 50, Lakewood moved into scoring position with a 37-yard bomb down the sidelines.  They capped the drive with a 10-yard run.  The Gators again missed on a 2-point conversion attempt, but they now held a two score advantage with time running out.
Marlboro reached the Gators’ 14-yard line with their desperation drive.  However, they turned it over after a sack on fourth down.  Lakewood was able to run out the clock by picking up a couple of first downs.
The Bulldogs fall to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in Region 6-AAA games.  They will face Lake City on the road this Friday.  They will need a victory to have a realistic  chance to make the playoffs.

Scouting the Panthers
Lake City was late to get the season started due to COVID-19 protocols.
Like Marlboro, the Panthers are off to a 0-2 start in Region 6-AAA.  They opened with a 14-13 loss to Lakewood and last Friday were in a defensive scrap with Camden, falling 11-6.
Lakewood, Crestwood and Camden are currently tied for the region lead, all with 2-0 records.
Crestwood held off Manning, 14-8 in the other region game of last week.

Tee it up
The Bulldogs and Panthers will kick off at 7:30 at the Lake City stadium.