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By Tim Morse
Staff Correspondent

LEESBURG — Chauncey Magwood took the snap, found some running room up the middle, then ran like his life depended on it in the fourth quarter of Lee County High School’s state semifinal playoff game against Westlake Friday night.

If Magwood ever needed to produce a Heisman Trophy-type run on the high school level, he did just that.

The senior scampered 57 yards for a first down, converting a third-and-16 from his 31, to put his Trojans in position for a score. A couple of plays later, he connected with Tyrus Washington on a 6-yard dump pass for a score to help build an insurmountable lead.

The top-ranked Trojans topped Westlake 35-14 Friday night in the Georgia High School Association Class AAAAAA state semifinals, winning their 10th straight, in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.

Lee County (12-1) punched its ticket to the state championship game for the third time in four seasons with the victory, earning a date with powerhouse Buford, which hammered Valdosta 45-26 in the other semifinal matchup. The state championship game will be played on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. at Georgia State Stadium in Atlanta.

Buford will get Lee’s attention soon enough.

But after the Trojans shut down an athletic Westlake team that boasted more Division I college signees on its roster than they scored points Friday night, the Trojans want to enjoy this one — at least a little.

“I’m just proud of the effort from these guys tonight,” Lee County coach Dean Fabrizio said. “To come back and re-focus in the second half after Westlake had battled to tie in the second quarter, that is a testament to these kids.”

Running back Caleb McDowell scored three rushing touchdowns on runs of 8, 48 and 3 yards and also caught a 7-yard pass from Magwood in the second quarter as the Trojans took a 14-0 advantage before Westlake came roaring back to tie the game with two quick scores in the final 4:34.

Lee County hogged the ball and the clock in the first half to grab the early lead. It took McDowell, who signed with South Carolina earlier this week, a little time to get going — 12 minutes and 30 seconds to be exact — before he scored the first points of the game on an 8-yard dash just 30 seconds into the second quarter.

He then caught a pass for a score two minutes later before Westlake (11-2) showed signs of its quick-strike offense, scoring on a 63-yard burst from Corzavius Smart to cut the lead in half. Then the Lions used an impressive 7-yard throw and catch from quarterback RJ Johnson to Leo Blackburn with 12 seconds left before the end of the half, leaving Lee County and its fans uneasy heading into the final two quarters.

But after Lee County stopped Westlake, which received the kickoff to start the third quarter, on its opening drive of the second half, McDowell gave the Trojans the lead for good, cutting his way to the end zone on a 48-yard dash.

He helped extend Lee’s lead to 28-14 with 2:02 left in the third, but the way Westlake could score points quickly, no lead ever seemed to feel secure.

After AJ Patrick’s interception on fourth down at the Lee 22 in the fourth quarter, it set up Magwood’s biggest run of the game, ending what little momentum Westlake had.

“We just try to get ball back to our offense as fast as we could so they could do what they do best,” Patrick said. “But we all just came out and balled tonight.”

Magwood tried to downplay his run, which moved the Trojans to the Westlake 12 where he faked the Lions’ defenders, who were expected a run, with a dump pass in the back of the end zone to Washington.

“It was a scheme man,” Magwood said of his 57-yard run on third-and-16. “It was either catch me or catch him (McDowell). They were looking for a run from him, so I went back three steps, got up the middle and followed my blockers down the field.”

After Lee’s defense stopped Westlake’s last-ditch effort to score with two minutes left in the game, players and fans counted down the final seconds before celebrating the wild victory.

“Playing in three state championship games in four years is a testament to this program,” Fabrizio said. “Many of those guys who played on those back-to-back state championship teams in 2017 and 2018 were here tonight. They set the standard. But the guys playing tonight didn’t want to let them down.”

Tim MorseTim Morse