Senior Luke Ramsey ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, as the Lake Nona Lions (4-3, 1-1) defeated Harmony (3-4, 0-2) in a key District 10, 7A game Friday.
The loss eliminated the Longhorns from the four-team district race; while the Lions –with a district game with Tohopekaliga next week--kept their hopes alive.
Ramsey scored on runs of 40 and 68 yards and added a 10-yard touchdown pass. He finished the game with 125 yards rushing to go with an 11-for-24 night and 122 yards passing.
“He’s a tremendous athlete who is extremely dangerous when he gets to the edge,” Harmony coach Don Simon said. “Defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job tonight containing their offense tonight, but those four or five big plays really killed us.”
The game started off well for the Longhorns, as they took the opening kickoff and marched into the red zone behind the strong running of Damarion Moore. But the drive bogged down after an incompletion and a botched handoff and the Longhorns had to settle for a Brayden Buehler 27-yard field goal. They'd make it 6-0 on Buehler's 25-yarder after having first-and-goal inside the 10.
Lake Nona got momentum right before half. Ramsey completed a 16-yard pass to Roberto Rodriguez, Deanthony Lafayette broke off a 12-yard run, and then on a third and 10 from the Harmony 40, Ramsey faked a handoff, broke containment and sprinted down the right sideline untouched for the score. Alejandro Quintero tacked on the extra point and the Lions grabbed a 7-6 lead at intermission.
The second half started off much like the first with Harmony playing good defense and moving the ball on the ground. A short punt set the Horns up at midfield and five plays later Buehler hit from 44 yards to give Harmony a 9-7 lead.
After a defensive stop, they had a chance to extend the lead. Nick Bertolani broke off a 15-yard run to give Harmony a first down on the Lions 33, but three plays gained nothing and Buehler’s 45-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Cristian Cuffy.
A 23-yard run by Lafayette and a 26-yard run by Kendrell Kimmons set the Lions up deep in Harmony territory and Ramsey capped the 70-yard drive with a scoring strike to Jordan Stokes to take the lead back 15-9.
Lake Nona put the game away in the fourth quarter when Ramsey again broke contain to the outside and raced 68 yards down the left sideline for a 21-9 lead.
In addition to Harmony’s inability to finish drives in the red zone, they were hampered by a one dimensional offense as quarterback Landon Hayes was 0 for 9 in the game and was sacked four times.
“Give them some credit, they are excellent defensive team with a good front four,” Simon said. “We had some success running the ball earlier in the game but they did a good job of shutting it down.”
Moore finished the game with 55 yards rushing on 20 carries; Bertolani added 59 on 12 totes.
Harmony will host Celebration (1-6) next week, before traveling to St. Cloud on Oct. 17 for the annual Solider City Classic.
