Lake Mary has let opportunities slip by throughout this season. The Rams finally made good an opportunity with a two-point conversion in overtime.
Lake Mary has had some bad beats this year. Single possession losses to Lake Brantley and Oviedo and a heartbreaking loss to Dr. Phillips have left the Rams with a record not reflective of the players on the team. Not reflective of the best passing offense in Central Florida.
The Rams find themselves constantly in these crazy games unable to make that last play to come through.
That final play finally came through for Lake Mary. After a final three minutes that saw the teams combine for 25 points and after seeing Winter Springs score a touchdown on a wide receiver throw to quarterback Steven Frost, Lake Mary went to the ground to get into the end zone.
Marquis Mickens finished off the tired Winter Springs defense with a three-yard run to score the final touchdown.
The Rams then used their own tricks to put this one finally and fully away. A direct snap to wide receiver Alex Tichonoff cemented a two-point conversion, the kind of risk a team desperate to win needs to take to finish games off.
Tichonoff found his way into the end zone and finished off a 37-36 win for Lake Mary, keeping Lake Mary and its pass-heavy offense alive in the 8A-2 district race.
Final Play of the Game 2-point conversion in overtime. 37-36 @LMHSRams over Winter Springs Bears. pic.twitter.com/h0hGwftgBw
— ESPN 580 (@ESPNOrlando) October 10, 2015
It felt like Lake Mary (2-4, 2-2 in 8A-2) had put the game away at least twice in the final three minutes. Nothing has been easy all year for the Rams and their defense. Or even their offense.
With 2:55 left in the fourth quarter, Lake Mary retook the lead on a 48-yard swing pass from Charles Peterson to Marquis Mickens. Mickens got the ball on the swing and dashed untouched down the sidelines. It gave Lake Mary a three-point lead against a Winter Springs (3-3, 1-2 8A-2) offense struggling to get the ball moving in several ways.
Lake Mary seemed to have Winter Springs on the ropes facing a fourth down deep in its own territory. That is when chaos began.
Steven Frost found Brandon White on a back-shoulder hitch route. White made the catch for a first down, broke the tackle and went 74 yards for a touchdown with 1:38 left in regulation. It was going to be that kind of night from then on. Big play after big play.
Lake Mary responded with a five-play drive on a short field after Winter Springs opted to squib kick the kickoff. It ended improbably with Peterson keeping the ball on a read option and rumbling 12 yards toward the end zone. He pushed through two Winter Springs defenders at the goal line and scored to put Lake Mary back up three with 53 seconds left.
Frost had one more trick up his sleeve though. His first-down pass was tipped by his intended receiver and ended up in Marcel Mitchell’s hands for a 17-yard gain. Frost made a second 26-yard completion to Mitchell and then one more pass for 13 yards to Anthony Williams.
His short pass to Williams put Winter Springs in field goal position with the clock ticking. Frost got the Bears to the line and spiked the ball with one second remaining. The Bears forced overtime on a 29-yard field goal from Matthew Ersek.
Overtime was even crazier with Winter Springs facing fourth down yet again. The Bears ran a reverse with Mitchell handing the ball off to White. White, instead of running it, stepped back to throw and found Frost in the corner of the end zone for the score.
It could have ripped Lake Mary’s hearts out. Instead the team bounced back. The same as it did after Peterson threw an interception returned 46 yards for a touchdown by Giani Stridacchio. The same as it did after Lake Mary had a field goal blocked with the chance to take the lead back early in the fourth quarter.
Lake Mary just stuck with things and found a way. That is something the Rams have not always done this year.
Peterson continued adding to his prolific passing total. He passed for 306 yards on 21-for-36 passing with three touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and two interceptions. Frost nearly matched him with 270 passing yards on 17-for-35 passing.
Mitchell rushed for 93 yards on 24 carries as Winter Springs came alive in the fourth quarter to make the comeback and keep pace with Lake Mary’s strong passing attack. A.J. Edwards had seven catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns for Lake Mary.
It was a great statistical day for many.
For Lake Mary though it was even better. It was something big for this team to stay in contention with the difficult district schedule still to come. There remains an outside chance for Lake Mary to make the Playoffs if the team can continue to win.
The Rams cannot win multiple district games without winning one. Now they have two. And as they have shown in their big games so far this year, Lake Mary can certainly hang around.
