For the Birds: West tops East in a GMC classic

WEST CHESTER, Ohio. – There has never been a shortage of big-time games throughout the history of the Greater Miami Conference. Friday night’s tilt between archrivals Lakota West, ranked #2 in the Blitz 5 Top 25, and  Lakota  East, ranked #8 in the Blitz 5 Top 25, was no exception.

Led by quarterback Sam Wiles, who rushed for 199 yards and two touchdowns, along with RB Kenyon Norman, who ran eight times for 85 yards and two scores, the Firebirds topped the Thunderhawks by a final of 42-24 at Lakota West.

Both teams came in tied for the lead – along with Princeton – in the GMC at 6-1, and both needing a win against their archrival, along with a Princeton loss – Princeton defeated both schools earlier in the season to own the tiebreaker – in order to take sole possession of first place in the GMC. Both offenses for the Thunderhawks and Firebirds had been on fire so far in 2024, averaging 35.6 and 38.8 points per game, respectively,  while the Lakota West defense has been among Greater Cincinnati’s best, allowing a paltry 6.8 points per game.

The Thunderhawks took the opening kickoff from the Firebirds, and promptly turned the ball over, with Lakota West DB Finn Mason picking off Lakota East QB Jamison Kitna on  a 3rd and 14 and returning it to the Thunderhawk 42-yard line. It is only the third interception thrown by Kitna so far this season. After a false start, alternating runs by Lakota West QB Sam Wiles and RB Braydon Johnson took the Firebirds to the Thunderhawk 29-yard-line. That’s when Wiles became wily, jetting 29 yards for the touchdown and an early 7-0 Lakota West lead.

Tom Bolden on High School Football Tonight on ESPN 1530

The Thunderhawks came to play, however, and took the next possession down to the Firebird 8-yard-line, where Kitna made up for his earlier interception and tossed an 8-yard TD pass to wideout Cohen Reip to knot the score at 7 apiece.

The fireworks, however, were just starting. Lakota West took their next possession and again, with the ground and pound attack of Wiles and Johnson, worked it down to the  Thunderhawk 7-yard-line, where Wiles took to the air and hit wideout Tyson Davis on a 7-yard TD to put Lakota West back in front 14-7. Wiles would finish 8 of 9 through the air on the night, for 77 yards and one TD.

The Firebirds would add to that lead after their defense forced a Lakota East punt. Starting with excellent field position at the Thunderhawk 37-yard-line, Lakota West drove  down and scored again. This time, it was a 1-yard run by Johnson, and with the extra point, it was 21-7 Lakota West and things were not looking good for Lakota East.

But when you have a quarterback such as Jamison Kitna, one of the top arms in Greater Cincinnati who prior to Friday night had thrown for 1,741 yards and 19 TDS, it’s hard to ever be out of a game. It only took two plays – a 50-yard pass from Kitna to tight end  PJ MacFarlane and a 27-yard TD pass from Kitna to WR Jayden Seay – and Lakota East was back in the game, trimming the Firebird lead to 21-14 with 6:03 left in the first half. Kitna would end the night 17 of 27 passing for 270 yards and two scores, albeit with the one costly interception.

The Firebirds answered right back, however, as their next possession found them in the red zone once more, with RB Kenyon Norman trucking 6 yards for a touchdown to extend the Lakota West lead to 28-14.

Any great rivalry, though, is like any great boxing match – both opponents throwing haymakers – and that’s what Lakota East did, driving back down the field capping an 80-yard drive with an 8-yard TD run by RB Ryder Hooks to again trim the lead to 28-21. The first half would feature 49 total points between the two high-powered offenses.

That’s where the score would stand to start the second half, with Lakota West taking the second half kickoff and marching right back down the field on the Thunderhawk defense – which had only been allowing 21 points per game to this point in the season – and Wiles finished it with a 9-yard touchdown run, his second of the night. With the extra point, it was 35-21 Firebirds.

Kitna, however, led his Thunderhawks right down the field again on the ensuing possession,  deftly finding holes in the Firebird pass defense and taking  Lakota East  to the Lakota West 1-yard line. A false start on third and goal from the 1-yard line wiped out a Kitna QB sneak, and on third-and-six, Kitna threw incomplete, resulting in a 16-yard field goal by Thunderhawk K AJ Fitzstephens to cut the deficit to 11, 35-24, with a little over three minutes left in the third quarter.

Lakota East’s defense finally stepped up on the next possession, forcing a Lakota west punt for the first time on the night, and then again drove down the field against the Firebirds. The drive stalled out at the Firebird 28-yard line, however, and on fourth down and six, a QB keeper by Kitna came up just short, turning the ball over to Lakota West with 10:42 left in the game.

From that point on, the Firebird offense had two objectives in mind – hold onto the football, and run down the clock, and accomplished both. With Wiles and his running backs grinding away, Lakota West salted more than seven minutes off the clock, punctuating the drive with a 22-yard TD run by Norman – his second on the night – to give the Firebirds a comfortable 42-24 cushion.

Lakota East went down swinging, though, as Kitna led the Thunderhawks down to the Lakota West 27-yard line. But on a third down and six, a scramble by Kitna resulted in a fumble – Kitna’s second turnover of the game and third overall for the Thunderhawks – and was recovered by Firebird LB Cam Thomas, sealing the victory for Lakota West.

Lakota West head coach Tom Bolden said the Firebirds sixth straight win in the rivalry series was one of the most exciting since he’d been at the school, and

“It was wild,” Bolden said. “We’d score, and we’d go in the tent and I was a little nervous, because all I’d hear was their side (Lakota East) cheering. I was like, boys, we’re in a battle. And that’s what it was. Hats off to Coach (Jon) Kitna and that coaching staff. Those kids at East, they played their butts off. They have definitely flipped the script from last year. They are a really good football team.”

Bolden said some important adjustments by the defensive coaching staff at halftime helped Lakota West slow down the Lakota East attack in the second half, and not allow the game to continue as a track meet, as it had been in the first half.

“I’ve got a great defensive staff,” he said. “They got in there and met together, before they met with the kids, came up with a plan. I told the offense, we’ve just got to control the ball in the second half. Keep their offense on the sidelines. That was the formula for the second half, for sure.”

There are still some things Bolden would like to clean up, however, before next week’s regular season finale against GMC rival Mason.

“We’ve got to clean some penalties up,” he concluded. “We were really undisciplined at times. I don’t think we played well in the chaos. We’ve got to clean that up, execute a little better and add some points. But if we play hard and take care of the football, we’ll be alright.”

Lakota West moves to 8-1 on the season with the victory, and maintains pace with GMC rival Princeton – who defeated GMC rival Middletown 13-7 Friday night — atop the conference with a 7-1 record, while Lakota East falls to 6-3, 6-2 in the GMC. 

POSTGAME INTERVIEW

SCORING BY QUARTER
Lakota West 14-14-7-7 -42
Lakota East 7-14-3-0 -24

SCORING PLAYS
W:  Sam Wiles 29 yard run (Kofi Adubofuor kick)
E: Cohen Reip 8 yard pass from Jamison Kitna (AJ Fitzstephens kick)
W: Tyson David 7 yard pass from Wiles (Jacob Seitz kick)
W: Braydon Johnson 1 yard run (Adubofuor kick)
E: Jayden Seay 27 yard pass from Kitna (Fitzstephens kick)
W: Kenyon Norman 6 yard run (Seitz kick)
E: Ryder Hooks 8 yard run (Fitzstephens kick)
W: Wiles 9 yard run (Adubofuor kick)
E: Fitzstephens 23 yard kick
W: Norman 22 yard run (Seitz kick)

RECORDS: Lakota West (8-1, 7-1 GMC); Lakota East (6-3, 6-2 GMC)
UP NEXT: Lakota West at Mason (5-4, 5-3 GM); Lakota East at Oak Hills (4-5, 3-5 GMC)

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