A fourth quarter attack from the Trojans on Friday night in Lake View resulted in three touchdowns, closing a 15-point gap to give Cross a 41-40 win over the Wild Gators and the Class A, Division I Lower State title.

Cross opened the scoring with 3:51 remaining in the first quarter when Xavier Steed scored on a 14-yard pass from Trojan quarterback Bradford Halls. Malik Goodings kicked in the extra point for a 7-0 lead. But Lake View answered with a nine-yard run from Chris Ford and Eric Munoz made the kick to knot the score at 7-7.

After tying the game in the first quarter, Lake View took firm control in the second, starting with a 15-yard run from Ford. Munoz kicked in the extra point to put Lake View ahead 14-7. The Wild Gators followed up with a 25-yard touchdown from Darius Leonard, and a 65-yard run from Corenthious Brunson put Lake View ahead 26-7. With 2:57 remaining in the half, Cross’s Dionte Evans scored on a 30-yard run, but the kick failed, leaving the Trojans down 26-13 at the half.

With 2:23 left in the third, Lake View widened the gap with an eight-yard run from Leonard and a two-point conversion run from Kendrix Worley. But Cross’s Devantae Shepherd scored a 14-yard touchdown with 49 seconds remaining to keep the Gators within reach.

Cross’s Halls connected with Evans for a 24-yard touchdown pass in the fourth, and Halls ran in the conversion to put Lake View within one touchdown. With 7:48 remaining, the Brunson scored on a 32-yard run to move the Gators to a 40-27 lead. But less than a minute later on the clock, Evans scored on a 13-yard run and followed up with a two-point conversion run to leave the Trojans trailing 40-35.

With just 1:03 left on the clock, Cross’s Devantae Shepherd scored the winning touchdown on a two-yard run for a one point at 41-40. The Trojans then went for an onside kick, got the recovery, and then ran out the clock to secure the win.

Lake View’s Corenthious Brunson led the Wild Gators with 152 yards rushing on 13 carries with two touchdowns. Darius Leonard carried 15 times for 102 yards and two touchdowns; Kendrix Worley carried 10 times for 50 yards; and Chris Ford carried seven times for 35 yards and a touchdown. Ford went 1-5 in passing with Leonard receiving for 28 yards.

Lake View finishes the season with a 9-4 record while Cross will move on to face upper state champion McCormick at Benedict College on Friday, November 23, at 3:00 p.m. for the Class A, Division I state title.

Photos by Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD. Click images below to view at full size!