King’s Academy’s dominant season ended with a league championship Saturday.
King’s Academy won the Southeastern Football Conference championship Saturday with a 21-13 victory over Fort Lauderdale-Pine Crest. (Photo provided by King’s Academy)
The Lions defeated Fort Lauderdale-Pine Crest 21-13 at Florida International University to win the Southeastern Football Conference championship.
The SFC title was the first for King’s Academy, which closed the season 11-0. The Lions finished 4-6 last season and missed the playoffs.
“When you have the ‘perfect season,’ a lot of factors have to line up, and we were fortunate for that to happen,” King’s coach Keith Allen said.
“We had great team leadership and chemistry. A true brotherhood.”
Pine Crest (8-3) was Kings’ toughest challenge by far this season. The Lions had outscored their opponents 431-66 heading into Saturday’s game, and had beaten the Panthers 51-19 earlier in the season.
But Pine Crest got on the board first, scoring on a 65-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Jordan Schulefand. The 2-point conversion failed, leaving the Panthers with a 6-0 lead.
King’s quarterback Justin Wake followed with a 1-yard TD run for a 7-6 Lions’ lead, but Pine Crest came right back on Schulefand’s 4-yard scoring pass.
The Lions added another touchdown in the first quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Jared Kirkpatrick for a 14-13 lead, and then put the game away on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Wake to Cory Croteau in the fourth quarter.
Wake, a sophomore, finished 7-of-14 for 88 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for a team-high 105 yards and a touchdown.
Justin Champion had a fumble recovery and recorded a team-high eight tackles for the Lions, while Christian Guida and Jeremiah Scroggins added five tackles each.
