Pressley Impressive at Running Back for LCS

Sat. September 01, 2012 at 12:21 a.m. | By Polk Preps Staff

By MIKE CALLAWAY

LEDGER CORRESPONDENT

LAKELAND | Concerns about the loss of star running back T.J. Simmons were quickly put to rest by Lakeland Christian on Friday night, with solid performances on offense and defense in a 48-7 home victory over Bradenton Christian.

LCS junior Rafael “Mighty Mouse” Pressley filled in for Simmons and was impressive with touchdown runs of 24 and 21 yards, both in the first half with 1,351 looking on.

Simmons, a sophomore, tore his ACL in the preseason and is out for the year.

Bradenton’s defense struggled to stop a much bigger Lakeland Christian team. Sophomore quarterback Christian Alexander, wearing Simmons’ No. 3 jersey, passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone. Overall, Lakeland Christian had 406 yards of offense compared to just 87 for Bradenton.

“It was time to turn it on,” Pressley said.

Panthers freshman quarterback Joey Giardina couldn’t get the offense moving against a stifling defense that constantly flushed him out of the pocket.

Senior John Giardina struggled to run the ball, with the team amassing just 56 total rushing yards.

“Their size made life difficult for us, but we’ll continue to get better,” said Bradenton coach Allan Gerber.



Bradenton Christian      0 0 0 7 — 7

Lakeland Christian      14 20 14 0 — 48

First Quarter

LCS - Leroy Deshazor 25 pass from Christian Alexander, Sharp kick (8:11)

LCS - White 35 punt return, Sharp kick (1:04)

Second Quarter

LCS - Rafael Pressley 24 run, Sharp kick (6:30)

LCS - Pressley 21 run, Sharp kick (4:00)

LCS - Larenz Deshazor 31 pass from Alexander, kick failed (1:30)

Third Quarter

LCS - Pressley 49 run, Sharp kick (10:18)

LCS - Aaron Huckery 12 pass from Alexander, Sharp kick (6:03)

Fourth Quarter

BCS - 1 run by Giardina, Moshier kick (4:17)