BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LANETT — Lanett High School spent most of the first half chasing Midfield High School. Then, it spent the majority of the second half running away from it with a decisive momentum swing fueled by its defense.
Trailing 18-7 at halftime, the Lady Panthers (8-4) outscored the Lady Patriots (6-11) 32-6 after the break and won 39-24 in the first round of the Class 1A-4A flag football playoffs at Morgan-Washburn Stadium on Nov. 5.
Serenity Roberts scored 26 points, running for 110 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries and catching a TD pass. Jennifer Trana-Hernandez led Lanett with eight catches for 53 yards, and Mar’Kala Bailey added 32 rushing yards, two sacks and an interception.
Lanett’s defense intercepted Midfield five times, returning two for TDs, including Skylah Davidson’s 78-yard return on the final play. Makenley James had three of the interceptions. For the Lady Patriots, Makyah Hall ran for 44 yards and two TDs and caught five passes for 50 yards.
Lanett head coach Tiara McCullough said the comeback meant more than a wire-to-wire win would have.
“I’m really proud of it,” McCullough said. “When they’re down, their attitudes kind of just drop. Somebody scores, and they think they’re out of it. So to actually stay in the game and fight to come back, that’s even better than just winning.”
The night started well for the Lady Panthers. James intercepted Midfield on the game’s second snap, and Roberts went 28 yards for a TD on the very next play. Bailey ran in the extra point for a 7-0 lead less than a minute in.
The Lady Patriots answered with three straight scoring drives. Hall ran for TDs of 8 and 15 yards in the first quarter, and Jazmin Johnson caught a 9-yard TD pass early in the second. Midfield missed all three conversions but still led 18-7 with 8:36 left in the half.
Lanett’s offense couldn’t answer before the break. The Lady Patriots intercepted the Lady Panthers three times in the second quarter, the last one at the goal line on the final play of the half.
Lanett opened the third quarter with a drive from its own 15 yard line to the Midfield 1, keyed by a 24-yard run from Bailey and a 33-yarder from Roberts, but turned it over on downs. Two snaps later, James intercepted a pass and returned it 18 yards for a TD, cutting the deficit to 18-13 with 7:45 left in the third.
McCullough said she trusted her defense to make the play that turned the game, and James’ pick-six did it.
“I’ve got a lot of faith in my defense,” McCullough said. “I told them if they give the offense one play, it’ll flip the switch. That’s what happened. She stepped up, she got it, and it flipped.”
James picked off the Lady Patriots again on their next possession, her third interception of the night. Midfield answered a Lanett turnover with a 23-yard TD catch by Maria Jefferson to go up 24-13, but the Lady Panthers responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive.
Trana-Hernandez caught four passes for 37 yards on the drive, the Lady Patriots were flagged for 25 yards in penalties, and Roberts finished it with a 2-yard run and the extra point. That made it 24-20 with 50 seconds left in the third.
After Lanett’s defense stopped Midfield on downs to open the fourth, Roberts broke a 32-yard TD run three plays later and ran in the point herself, giving the Lady Panthers their first lead since the opening minutes at 27-24.
Roberts said she had to get past her own nerves before her go-ahead run.
“At first, I was getting in my head, but then I had to get out of my head and pick it up,” Roberts said. “Got that touchdown. It felt wonderful.”
Bailey intercepted the Lady Patriots on the next snap. Lanett couldn’t cash in from the Midfield 8 yard line, but its defense got the ball right back, forcing a turnover on downs after two bad Midfield snaps. Taking over at the Midfield 22 yard line with 4:10 left, the Lady Panthers went back to their usual starter, Ny’kayjah Davis, for one play, and she found Roberts in the corner of the end zone for a 17-yard TD and a 33-24 lead with 1:41 left to play.
Roberts ran Lanett’s offense most of the night. The starter had been out with the flu and missed practice, so McCullough turned to Roberts, then brought the starter back for the late TD pass.
“It was really good for her to just step in, because, hey, that’s going to be her job next year,” McCullough said of Roberts.
The Lady Patriots’ last drive reached Lanett territory behind three runs by Tankeria Webb for 49 yards. Then Davidson stepped in front of a pass and went 78 yards, nearly the length of the 80-yard field, for the final TD as time expired.
The final interception was a redemption moment. McCullough said Davidson had dropped a would-be interception that came straight to her earlier in the game.
“She’s a senior, so I didn’t want her to leave the field with that drop,” McCullough said. “It felt good for her to get that chance again.”
Roberts put it more simply.
“That was fire right there,” she said. “I almost started crying.”
The win sends Lanett to the second round in the program’s first season. The Lady Panthers faced Deshler High School (8-4) on the road at Howard Chappell Stadium on Tuesday, Nov. 10. That result was not available by the Sun’s Tuesday press deadline.
“We’re a really young team,” McCullough said. “The job is not done, of course, but for this being our first year, it’s really big.”
