The Fellowship Christian Paladins traveled to Gainesville Friday night to take on Lakeview Academy.  Both teams were hoping to start the season off on the right foot but it was the Paladins who came up with two big blocked kick attempts to pull out the 21-20 victory.

The Lakeview offense came out in their wing-tee and the Paladin defense did not have an answer as the Lions drove their opening possession down the field for the score.  Their extra point attempt was wide-left and Lakeview took the early lead 6-0.After a big fourth down defensive stop by the Paladins on the Lion’s next possession the FCS took over on their own 23-yard line.  A four play drive ensued and it was highlighted by a 10-yard run from freshman Tyler Hart and a “SportsCenter” type catch by senior Josh Hart. Sophomore Coleman Poje capped the drive when he connected with senior DJ Shirley for a 37-yard touchdown.  Brice Wells knocked the extra point through to put the Paladins up 7 – 6.

Lakeview struck again late in the second quarter to pull ahead 14 – 7 as the two teams headed into halftime.

In their opening possession of the second half, Lakeview drove inside the Paladin 10-yard line.  However, the Paladin defense stiffened and the Lions were forced to attempt a 27-yard field goal. Hart got a great jump on the play and blocked the attempt.

On the ensuing FCS possession, freshman running back Tyler Hart broke several tackles and also came up with a big third down conversion. Poje connected to several times with the sure-handed receiving duo of Josh Hart and DJ Shirley and the Paladins were able to drive down to the Lion’s 5-yard line.  At that point, Poje called his own number with a QB sneak and the sophomore was able to sneak into the endzone for the TD.  Brice Wells with the extra point all tied up at 14-14.

On their next possession, FCS began where they left off. Poje reenacted the previous scoring drive by connecting with Hart and Shirley again as the Paladins drove down the field.  Poje hit Shirley with a 22-yard pass which brought the Paladins down to the Lion’s 3-yard line.  On the next play, Tyler Hart made a stutter step move and raced into the corner of the end zone making it 21-14 Fellowship.

After surrendering zero points in the second half, the Paladin defense was put in a tough spot late in the fourth quarter when a Coleman Poje punt was blocked. The block enabled the Lion’s offense to take over 12-yards from a potential game-tying touchdown.

Lakeview punched it in for the score and down 21-20, Lions’ Coach Matthew Gruhn decided to go for the tie rather than the win.  The snap on the PAT was good but the surge of Paladins up the middle proved to be too much for the Lion’s offensive line. Junior Nathan O’Rielly and Freshman Chad Davenport blocked the attempt, sealing the win for Fellowship.

Fellowship heads to Athens on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with Prince Avenue Christian.