Prep football: Lakota West, New Miami emerge from ranks of the winless

Victory droughts ended in dramatic fashion Friday night for the Lakota West and New Miami prep football teams.

West rallied to win 31-24 at Oak Hills when MyJaden Horton hit Jordan Harris for a 12-yard touchdown with 1:01 remaining, while New Miami had 498 total yards and came from behind to edge visiting Jefferson 50-48.

“The old adage is that winning cures all ills,” said West coach Larry Cox, whose team piled up a whopping 19 penalties for 176 yards. “The Oak Hills kids played really hard, but we did some stupid stuff that didn’t help things.

“We won, but we haven’t played our best game yet, and that’s OK. That’s a goal we always shoot for.”

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Horton was 15 of 25 for 194 yards and two touchdowns and fellow sophomore David Afari tallied 171 yards and a TD on 24 carries for the Firebirds, who are 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the Greater Miami Conference.

Junior Dylan Jones added six receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown for West, which trailed 17-10 at halftime and then 24-23 down the stretch.

“I look for progression each week out of MJ, and he’s done that,” Cox said of Horton. “I was happy with his decision-making. The game-winning drive was huge. The last three plays were his calls.

“Afari’s fast to begin with, but I saw him run behind his shoulder pads for the first time too. That was encouraging to see.”

New Miami’s win was even wilder. The Vikings (1-3) led by 14 three times, then rallied from a pair of six-point deficits.

“We went to a football game and a basketball game broke out,” New Miami coach John Singleton said Saturday afternoon. “The kids were flying this morning when they came in for breakfast. It felt like we got that monkey off our back.

“I told the kids they deserved it, but we’ve got to get better. We can’t keep giving up 48 points and expect to win.”

The Vikings were down 48-42 when Trey Robinette found Ronnie Bowman for a 48-yard touchdown with about five minutes left. Danny Spivey sealed the win with a game-ending interception near midfield.

“We were exhausted at the end of the game,” Singleton said. “Our kids were sucking air. We were just holding on by our fingertips.”

Spivey had two picks, threw a 55-yard TD pass and notched two scoring receptions. Robinette was 16 of 23 for 236 yards and four touchdowns through the air, Bowman caught six balls for 149 yards and two TDs, and Dalton Garrett ran 24 times for 132 yards and two TDs.

New Miami has made a successful switch to the spread offense in the last two weeks.

“We decided as a staff after (losing to) Elgin that we were going to go no-huddle and throw the ball. I think that’s what we do best,” Singleton said. “We can do some things offensively that can give people problems if we execute.”

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