– Samuel Frick

Deep in the heart of LaGrange County, fans, in limited capacity, saw a offensive slugfest on a chilly Friday night of high school football. The Angola Hornets (3-0, 2-0 Big School Division) keep their Big Division title hopes alive with a 49-27 win over the Lakeland Lakers (1-4, 0-2 Big School Division). 

For the third straight game, Angola scored on their first drive of the game thanks to a 20-yard quarterback keeper by Tucker Hasselman down the middle. However, Lakeland would respond on their first drive as senior quarterback Colton Issacs connects a 30-yard pass to Deion Marshall to tie the game at 7. Junior Finley Hasselman record his first of 3 TD’s by breaking through a pile of Lakeland linemen and finding his way to the end zone on a 29-yard run. 

The 2nd quarter saw Lakeland senior Bryce Alleshouse pounding into the end zone from 5 yards out to tie the game at 14. After a Zach Buell pick, Andre Tagliaferri ran to the outside for a  8-yard TD run, which gave the Hornets a 1 score lead again. But Lakeland would tie the game for the 3rd time with 5 seconds to go in the half thanks to a 38-yard TD pass from Colton Issacs to Deion Marshall. After the Lakers came up short on 4th down, Finley Hasselman made two huge runs on Angola’s next drive. The first was a 45-yard run to take the ball to the 5, and the other was a 5-yard run to give Angola a 28-21 lead with 4:07 left in the 3rd quarter. 

In the 4th quarter, Lakeland was pushing deep into Angola territory. On 4th and 8 from the Angola 30, Issacs pass was picked off by Kassius Lacy. 2 plays later, Tucker Hasselman connects to Andre Tagliaferri for a 42-yard score to extend Angola’s lead. As the game started to wind down, Finley finished his night with a 6-yard TD run, while Tucker Hasselman’s connected on a 54-yard run to round out the scoring for Angola. Colton Issacs would score on a QB keeper for Lakeland. 

Finley Hasselman led everyone with 163 yards on 16 carries and 3 scores. Lakeland was led by Colton Issacs who went 11 of 26 for 150 yards and 2 TD passes and ran for an additional score. Deion Marshall caught 4 passes for 140 yards and 2 scores. Angola will host (4-0) Fairfield, who dominated West Noble 41-7. Lakeland travels to Albion to face (3-2) Central Noble, who defeated Fremont 35-34 in OT.