COLONY — Maybe the superstitious folk have had it wrong all this time when they equated Friday the 13th with bad luck.
Turns out Friday the 12th can make things pretty miserable as well.
Such was the case Friday for Crest High’s Lancers.
Injuries, turnovers and a breakout game from visiting Northeast quarterback Jaxson Payne, who threw for five touchdowns, all made for a tough night as the Vikings took over in the second and third quarters to knock off the Lancers, 42-14.
The loss drops Crest to 1-1, while Northeast (1-1) snaps an 11-game losing streak that dates back to the end of the 2023 season. It was also the Vikings’ first win since the school shifted down to the eight-man ranks prior to the start of the 2024 campaign.
“It was kind of a perfect storm,” Lancer head coach Nick McAnulty said. “Any time something could go wrong, it did.”
Between three turnovers and two other missed scoring opportunities, Crest also found itself down several starters by game’s end due to injury. Each of the Lancers’ three main receiving threats, Kole Walter, Xander Fuller and Henry White, all had exited. Quarterback Lane Yocham also was banged up, missing much of the second quarter after taking a vicious hit on a sack.
That meant shifting assignments for an already young, and thin, Lancer squad.
“We try to keep everybody in the know,” McAnulty said. “Even though they might know the plays, when they get out there on the big stage, they might not remember them.”
But the team’s biggest issues were up front, he continued.
“We need to find guys willing to block up front,” the coach said. “We’ve challenged them, and nobody’s stepping up right now.”
Unlike a week earlier, when Crest was able to connect repeatedly on deep balls, the Lancer offense had troubles moving the ball consistently throughout, although Yocham was able to start the scoring on a 70-yard dart to Walter late in the first quarter.
But Northeast responded quickly, marching downfield before facing a fourth-and-goal from the 20.
Payne, a sophomore showing the poise of a smooth veteran, calmly found a leaping Tayven Willard in the end zone for the score to close it to 8-6.
Crest still had a grasp of things on its next possession, marching from its 20 yard line to the Viking 11. But an illegal motion penalty was critical, and the 14-play drive ended on downs.
The Vikings needed all of one play to take the lead, when Payne again threw deep, this time to Tegan Mitchell for a 64-yard scoring strike.
