Lee East edges Sumter County to earn spot in conference championship

LEESBURG — The Lee East Middle School Trojans earned a spot in the Deep South Football Conference championship next week by edging Sumter County 28-26 Wednesday afternoon at Lee County High School. The Trojans will now travel to Ft. Valley to face Ft. Valley Middle School at Peach County High School next Wednesday for the conference title.

Turnovers and penalties were rampant during the game and the win wasn’t secure for the Trojans until quarterback Trey Bush broke through the Sumter County defense and carried defenders on his back to the 23-yard line for a first down with less than two minutes left to play.

The Trojans built a 14-0 lead in the first half before the Panthers rallied. Lee East’s Antwan Brown picked up a Sumter County fumble at the eight-yard line and Karson Cook put the Trojans on the board moments later with a touchdown run. Bush ran in for the two-point conversion to put the score at 8-0.

The Panthers moved down the field on their next possession with two major penalties assessed on the same play. After the call that included pass interference and a personal foul, the Panthers were inside the Trojan 20-yard line. The Trojan defense stood strong, including a quarterback sack by Bush and the Panthers turned the ball over on downs at the 21-yard line.

Bush took the snap on the first play and raced 79 yards into the end zone for six more points.

The Panthers responded with two second-quarter touchdowns to close the gap to 14-12 with six seconds left in the half, but the Trojans were not done.

Bush lofted a pass downfield, and the Panther defender tackled the receiver before the ball arrived, leading to a pass interference call and the Trojans had a half-second left on the clock. Bush passed again, and again a pass interference flag came out that put the Trojans at the 22, one more play, and no time on the clock. Bush connected with Jeremy Jones for the 22-yard touchdown pass and the two-point conversion put the score at 22-12 at the half.

Bush scored again in the fourth quarter on an eight-yard run to give the Trojans a 10-point advantage but again the Panthers responded and were hoping for another shot before the crucial first down that secured the win for the Trojans.

Ft. Valley will host the conference championship as the top team coming out of the regular season. Lee East lost a close game to Ft. Valley earlier in the year to finish second. Ft. Valley defeated Lee West Wednesday afternoon to advance to the championship game.

By Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]