MIDDLETOWN — Vincent Giordano put his head down, made some plays and let the last couple days of practice speak for the Lakota West High School football team.
“Everyone was just locked in,” the Firebirds defensive end said. “Super serious week of practice. Everyone was locked in and super eager to play.”
Lakota West was more than locked in Friday night.
The seventh-ranked Firebirds took the game ball that was flown in via helicopter prior to kickoff and steamrolled their way to a 51-7 Greater Miami Conference victory over the Middletown Middies at Barnitz Stadium.
Lakota West (4-1, 3-1 GMC) handed Middletown (4-1, 3-1 GMC) its first loss of the season. The Middies, ranked eighth in the state poll, were off to their best start since 2011.
“We had a great week of practice,” Lakota West coach Tom Bolden said. “They did a few things differently defensively, but like I said, we had a great week of practice. I think we had a great scheme offensively. Defensively, we had a solid scheme.
“We knew it was going to be emotional, and things like that. We knew they’re really good. They run fast. They hit hard. They’re in the right direction. They’re playing hard. They’re a good football team. We just grabbed momentum. We’re a battle-tested team that grabs momentum and just kind of didn’t give it up.”
The Firebirds have won 10 straight against the Middies, who last beat the Firebirds 47-7 back on Sept. 30, 2011 — the same season the Middies finished 10-2 when current assistant coach Jalin Marshall was the starting quarterback.
“We talked about the physicality. That was the measuring stick,” Middletown first-year coach Kali Jones said. “Lakota (West) is a physical team. It was good that we seen that. We needed to see it. We needed to experience it. We needed to taste it.
“We’ll get it. We knew that this was going to be a measuring stick of the physicality and mental fortitude. They just whopped our ass tonight. They were just a more physical team. They were the stronger team, and it showed tonight.”
Kofi Adubafuor connected on a 45-yard field goal to give Lakota West a 3-0 lead with 7:37 left in the first.
And the rout was on.
Lakota West ran for 361 yards — led by Kenyon Norman’s 108 yards on nine carries. Braydon Johnson had 101 yards and a touchdown, while Wiles added 82 yards and two scores. Lakota West’s defense held Middletown to 42 total yards of offense and two first downs.
Wiles’ second score put the Firebirds on top 27-0 with just under 3 minutes left in the first half.
“It feels amazing,” Wiles said. “This is a good team. They’re 4-0 obviously for a reason. But we had to come out here, and we had to do our work.
“We’re still mad at that Princeton loss,” Wiles added, “but we just got to keep putting it in our past. We were playing a good team here, so we just had to bring our all.”
Wiles hit Tyson Davis on a 41-yard touchdown pass to send Lakota West into the halftime break up 34-0.
“We have a brotherhood right now,” Wiles said. “We’re all connected. We’re all clicking right now. We’re clicking. We’re piecing the puzzle. It’s coming together. We’re a dangerous team right now.”
Jastin Bourne connected with Joseph Ward on a 32-yard touchdown pass to give Middletown its only score that brought it to within 34-7 at the start of the third.
Johnson and LaShawn Williams each added touchdown runs to go along with a Jacob Seitz 32-yard field goal to round it out for Lakota West.
“This is a journey. It’s one game at a time,” Bolden said. “The kids will enjoy it for this weekend. I’ll enjoy it tonight, and I’ll get to work on it tomorrow on the (Colerain) Cardinals.
“That’s where I’m at. It’s one week at a time for me because that’s what these kids deserve — which is my best, every coach’s best. That’s how we approach it.”
Lakota West travels to Colerain next week, while Middletown heads to Lakota East.
