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Indian River High School moved to within a victory of its first Henlopen Conference Southern Division football championship in a decade with a 21-6 victory over visiting Lake Forest on Friday, Nov. 13, 1998.
Led by 86 yards rushing and two touchdowns from running back Antoine Stratton, the Indians rose to 4-1 in the division and 8-1 overall.
A win at Smyrna on Friday, Nov. 20, would give Indian River its first state tournament berth since 1991 and its first Henlopen South title since the Indians' 1988 state championship season.
The Indians are in a neck and neck race with Delmar, which is also 4-1 in the South, but if the two teams end up tied after next week, the Indians would win the South by virtue of their 14-7 win over Delmar on Oct. 30. The Indians could also earn an at-large state tournament berth should they not win the division.
Unfortunately, the Indians will have to win the Smyrna game without Stratton, who was ejected from the Lake Forest game for swinging at a Spartan player -- an offense that carries an automatic one-game suspension.
The Indians have also lost standout tight end Kendrell Marshall for the remainder of the season for academic reasons. Marshall was a key player in the Indians' previous two wins over Delmar and Polytech.
Against Lake Forest, the Indians scored on the game's first series with Stratton capping a 34-yard drive with a 13-yard run. Stratton scored on another 13-yard burst at the end of a nine-play, 63-yard drive in the second quarter to give I.R. a 14-0 halftime lead.
Lake Forest pulled to within 14-6 in the third period on a 63-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kyle Demby to Quinton Marshall near the end of the third quarter.
The Spartans got the ball back again quickly early in the fourth quarter but their drive was halted when Indian River's Joey Land recovered a Chris Scott fumble.
Land's recovery set up a 9-play, 65-yard Indian drive that culminated in quarterback Shawn Watkins' 8-yard TD run. The third of placekicker George Cole's three extra point kicks gave the Indians a 21-6 lead.
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