Lakeland hasn't had much luck against Garrett recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Lakeland Lakers will challenge the Garrett Railroaders at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are still undefeated after three-games, but that won't be the case come Friday.
Last Friday, everything came up roses for Lakeland at home against Prairie Heights as the squad secured a 48-6 win. Given the Lakers' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 85th, while the Panthers are ranked 257th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
A big part of the victory came down to the chemistry between Brayden Holbrook and his top target Keyan Arroyo. Holbrook threw for 118 yards and two touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes while Arroyo gained 120 total yards and two touchdowns. Levi Cook made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Lakeland's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Cook, Johnny Colon, and Arroyo picked up one apiece. Cook also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, picking up a sack and making seven total tackles in addition to snagging an interception which he returned for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, while Garrett put up plenty of points on Friday, the same can't be said for Churubusco. Garrett blew past Churubusco 41-0 on the road. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Railroaders just coasted through the last quarter.
Garrett's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Calder Hefty, who rushed for 18 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 94 yards and a touchdown on only six passes. Aiden Reed was another key passer, rushing for 115 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries.
Reed wasn't the only one working in the rushing yards department: Garrett was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 248 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 209 rushing yards in four consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Lakeland's record is now 3-0. As for Garrett, their record is now 3-0.
Lakeland came up short against Garrett in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, falling 18-9. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hefty, who rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.2 yards per carry. Now that Lakeland knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
