ST PETERSBURG - You wouldn't have guessed it by looking at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, but at one point in the second quarter, Tarpon Springs was beating Lakewood.
Midway through the second quarter, that all changed when Lakewood quarterback Ryan Davis rolled out and gently floated a pass to Matthew Dickens, who broke free from a tackle and into the endzone. A two-point conversion later, the game was tied.
With less than a minute to go in the half, the Spartans took the lead when Romello Presley took a handoff and ran through the middle for a score and the 22-15 advantage.
In the second half, Presley and the Spartans picked up right where they left off, this time Presley hauled in a pass from Davis and easily stepped past a defender for the score and a 15-point lead.
In the third, Lakewood began to pile it on when Tyriek Hopkins took a handoff and sprinted through a narrow window and across the goal line for yet another touchdown.
With the game virtually out of reach, Lakewood's defense got into the action when Stevie Richardson picked up a fumble and ran it back nearly 90 yards for the score.
In the end, the Spartans finished off the Spongers 49-29 to secure their second straight district 5A-8 regular season title.