Prep football: Cypress Lake hangs on to beat Lely

Cypress Lake beats Lely

Cypress Lake’s 15-7 over Lely.

FORT MYERS — A tipped ball in the end zone with less than a minute to play led to the interception that sealed Cypress Lake’s 15-7 victory over visiting Lely on Friday night.

Lely (0-2) had several chances to even the score during a tight game, but penalties and a few bad breaks kept the Trojans’ first win of the season just out of reach.

“Penalities in the red zone … mistakes, it’s obviously really tough,” Trojan coach Dave Miller said. “Still, Cypress Lake is a great team. They have some good running backs. They’re tough.”

The penalty that hurt Lely the most came with less than two minutes to play. Sophomore quarterback Karbel Dirogene tossed a touchdown pass to Jean Jean-Charles, but an illegal man down field penalty negated what could have been the tying score. The Trojans racked up nine penalties for 70 yards, including a roughing the punter call that gave Cypress Lake the ball back at a crucial point in the second half.

The Panthers also struggled with penalties, with 14 flags for 98 yards, a statistic that left coach Mike Thornton less than thrilled about his team’s first win.

“We have a ton of stuff to work on, but right now after this victory is not the time to do that,” Thornton said. “Tomorrow we’ll look at the film and evaluate all our mistakes.”

The first score of the night was set up by special teams play. A 40-yard punt return by freshman Sean Anderson gave Cypress Lake the ball on the Lely 14 midway through the first quarter. Three plays later, junior running back Devon Calhoun ran in a 5-yard score.

Cypress Lake had five more first downs in the first quarter, but wasn’t able to convert.

The Trojans ran with that momentum, taking a 17-play drive down to the Panthers’ 1-yard line. But stout defense up front kept Lely from scoring with the series ending on a goal-line stuff on fourth down.

Panther quarterback Jayron Kearse led all rushers with 130 yards on 23 carries. Dirogene finished 11-of-21 for 167 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown. He also led Lely with 41 rushing yard on 11 carries.