Lakewood football flushes 43-game losing streak with win over Overland

LAKEWOOD — It’s over. 

Lakewood football ended its 43-game losing streak Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium. The Tigers took a 20-7 victory over Overland to finally give Lakewood coach Josh Carvalho his first victory since he took over the program in March 2023.

“I knew it was going to be tough,” Carvalho said about taking over the Tigers’ program and picking up his first win. “I probably didn’t think it would take this long. We’ve missed some opportunities, but I’m happy for them (players and coaches) now.”

Some old-school football tactics were used by Lakewood (1-7, 1-2 in Class 5A Metro North League) to end the losing streak. The Tigers had been working on running a single-wing offense for a handful of weeks and decided it was time to break it out against Overland (0-8, 0-3).

“We said we were going to play smash-mouth football and these kids bought in to it,” Carvalho said. “They came out and did it.”

Junior running back Ezekiel Maddux spearheaded the offensive attack. Maddux took the majority of the direct snaps. She finished with a pair of touchdowns on well over 30 carries.

“I was very excited and I was very confident in my team,” Maddux said of being the focal point of the Tigers’ old-school look offense. “I felt like the coaches prepared us well this week. I was ready to go.”

The Tigers got out to a quick 12-0 lead in the first quarter. Lakewood’s defense was key forcing and recovering Trailblazer fumbles that set up the first two Tiger touchdowns. Senior Tatum Bachicha and sophomore Edwin Vargas-Collins had the fumble recoveries for Lakewood on back-to-back drives by Overland. 

Sophomore Harlem Dabanka scored Lakewood’s first touchdown with 3:48 left in the first quarter to cap off a 10-play, 81-yard scoring drive. Maddux scored his first of two touchdowns with 41.6 seconds left in the first quarter as he carried a handful of defenders into the end zone on a 12-yard scoring run.

“After that first drive, I just knew,” Maddux said of when he felt the Tigers were going to win for the first time since Sept. 16, 2021. “The energy we came out with. How the defense was playing. We came out and put it to them.”

Overland did make things interesting in the second half. Junior running back Elijah Hargrove scored on a 4-yard rushing touchdown to cut the Tigers’ lead to 12-7 in the third quarter.

However, Lakewood got the momentum back with a 5-yard touchdown run by Maddux with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter. A successful 2-point conversion made it a 20-7 lead for the Tigers.

“At halftime he said he wanted it,” Carvalho said of what Maddux told him at halftime after carrying the ball 17 times for 82 yards and a touchdown at the break. “I knew he was going to be able to take it.”

Overland got the ball into Lakewood territory twice in the fourth quarter, but an interception by junior Logan Stuckey and another fumble recovery, this time by senior captain Giovanni Beaty sealed the long awaited victory.

“Effort. We played 110 percent every play,” Beaty said of the different tonight. “We didn’t take any reps off. We wanted to win so badly.”

Lakewood had come close a few times over the last two season on breaking the losing streak, but Carvalho said after receiving the traditional ice bucket shower that he knew the steak would end this week.

“After a 49-0 loss against Northglenn last week, the kids came in Monday and knew what the plan was going to be,” Carvalho said. “We had been working on it for about four weeks. We told them we were going all-in on it. The kids were excited about it.”

It’s been nearly 40 years since Lakewood pulled off one of the most historic football state championship victories in Colorado. The Tigers defeated Cherry Creek 47-8 in the Class 4A (largest classification at the time) at the University of Colorado’s Folsom Field. 

The 1985 state championship team was honored during homecoming earlier this season. 

Lakewood suited just 27 players on a fridge day where it was 5 degrees at kickoff. John Metcalf and Mark Robinson both had over 100 yards rushing each for the Tigers. Brett Quigley had two touchdowns catches as Lakewood shocked the Bruins who dressed over 100 players. 

While the win Friday night wasn’t for a state championship, it meant a lot to players, coaches and Lakewood alumni.

“It feels amazing,” Maddux said of putting the losing streak behind the Tigers.