Herald photo by Romeo Guzman. Ray Lewis III scored five touchdowns in Lake Mary Prep’s victory Friday night.
The sophomore shook off a bad set of cramps on a humid evening to score five touchdowns and lead Lake Mary Prep (3-1) to a 40-27 Homecoming-spoiling victory over The Community School in Naples.
Griffins coach Buck Gurley tried to spread things around offensively so that Lewis, who rarely leaves the field and missed just two plays on Friday, would not get burned out. But when push came to shove late in the game, the second-year coach turned the game over to his blossoming super star and he answered the bell like a champion.
The host Seahawks (1-3) broke a scoreless tie in the second quarter when quarterback Andrew Tomaini hit Neal Defossez, who broke a tackle and raced 47-yards into the end zone.
Lake Mary Prep responded with a 62-yard drive on which Lewis carried the ball on the first five plays for 48 yards down to the 14 and with Lewis on the sideline, Andrew Michaels got the call and rolled into the end zone with the tying score.
But Community School would regain the lead before halftime on a 35-yard interception return, but the extra point was missed, and the game went to intermission with the hosts leading 13-7.
It was the Griffins’ turn to take the lead in the third quarter as Lewis returned a punt 82-yards and Justin Stimac added the extra point to give the guests a 14-13 lead with 3:51 remaining in the third.
Barely five minutes later, Lewis did himself even better, returning a punt 87-yard for a touchdown, but the PAT was missed, making the score 20-13 with 10:27 left.
The Seahawks answered right back on the first play after the ensuing kickoff with a 65-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 20-20 with 10:07 remaining.
Two plays later, LMP grabbed the lead back when Lewis took a screen pass from Mitch Lane and turned it into a 65-yard touchdown, followed by the PAT from Stimac and it was 27-20 with 8:40 showing on the clock.
Here came the Seahawks again, tying the game at 27-27 on a 6-yard touchdown pass four minutes later.
Despite the cramps setting in, Lewis took over the game and put his squad ahead for good with a 40-yard touchdown run with 3:03 left and then closed out the victory with his fourth touchdown of the fourth quarter on a 3-yard run with 1:40 remaining.
Lewis finished with 423 yards of total offense and the five touchdowns.
He carried the ball 23 times for 171 yards, caught five passes for 83 yards and returned the two punts for 169 yards.
Defensively, he contributed nine tackles, with four being solo stops.
Lane, who returned after missing most of last week with an injury, was just 7-for-18 with an interception, but the completions were good for 92 yards and the touchdown pass.
Andrews added 41 yards on five carries and the touchdown, while Jacob Kirby led in tackles with 10, six solo, and Arthur Bullard chipped in with nine tackles, seven solo, including two quarterback sacks and a fumble recovery.
The Griffins return to Lake Mary this Friday to host Central Florida Christian Academy from Ocoee in their Class 1B-District 4 opener beginning at 7 p.m.