Regardless of what happened, neither team was going to win the Patriot League Keenan Division Championship, nor would either be eliminated from playoff contention. Perhaps the biggest takeaway was playoff seeding.
And if playoff seeding was the most important aspect of the game, then consider the Silver Lake high school football team (6-1, 4-1 Patriot League Keenan Division) winners — twice.
On Friday, the Lakers task was to try to defeat the Whitman-Hanson Panthers (4-3, 2-3 Patriot League Keenan Division). In that, they were successful. They came away with an 18-7 win at home. But seeing how they entered the weekend projected as the No. 3 seed in the Division 2A South Sectional tournament, the real win for them might have been securing a home playoff game.
Early on in, it was the Lakers who had momentum. In the first quarter, they had a pair of scores. Driving down field, the Lakers scored first — on a 10-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Alec Snell. He threw it to his twin brother, Carson, a wide receiver, for the score. The 2-point conversion attempt was no good.
As the quarter progressed, the Lakers found themselves on another scoring drive. And this scoring drive was capped off by senior running back Josh Chapman. He ran it six yards into the end zone, putting the Lakers up, 12-0, late in the first quarter. The conversion attempt was no good.
Defensively, the Lakers did what they had to do and made stops when needed. Regardless, they allowed Panthers quarterback Ethan Phelps to throw for over 100 yards and run for over 100 yards. In all, the Lakers allowed over 200 rushing yards. That might sound like a team struggling on defense but for every big play they allowed, there was a big stop preventing the Panthers from scoring later in the drive.
The Lakers let up a touchdown in the second quarter, despite not scoring one themselves. Phelps reached the end zone on a 15-yard run. The extra point attempt was good. But the Lakers still led, 12-7.
While the Lakers held momentum in the first half, it really came on their side in the second. They shut the Panthers out in those two quarters and while their offense did not score, Chapman returned the second-half opening kickoff for a 90-yard touchdown. And the Lakers 2-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.