The most highly anticipated matchup of the year includes all the tension, the hype, and the chaos that are a part of the Lakeland vs. West Milford football game. The Highlanders led the all-time series 30-27-2 before the Homecoming matchup on Saturday, October 5. The Lancers came into the game trying to build off a strong 29-7 win over Dover, while the Highlanders thumped Mahwah 34-13.
The two teams came out fired up before this rival matchup. However, the defenses held strong, and the first quarter ended without a score.
On the first offensive drive of the second quarter for the Highlanders, Aydin Deane threw to Jake Kelshaw, who stabbed the ball out of the air with one hand and dragged the Lakeland safety as Kelshaw fell into the end zone for a 14-yard score. The half ended after that with the score still 7-0 in favor of the Highlanders.
After halftime, the Highlanders received the ball, looking to add to the small lead. On the second play of the drive, however, Deane had to come out of the game for a play, so junior Patrick Foley stepped in at quarterback. Foley took the snap, ran around the left side, and took the ball 89 yards to the end zone for the touchdown. The Highlanders missed the extra point, and the score stayed 13-0.
A few drives later, the Lancers drove down the field and punched the ball into the end zone from six yards out. They made the extra point and the score was 13-7, followed shortly by the end of the third quarter.

This drive gave the Lancers all of the momentum they needed to claw back into the game. Lakeland was then about to throw a 24-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 13-13 with a chance to take the lead. However, their kicker missed the extra point, keeping the game tied with five minutes remaining.
The Highlanders needed to march 70 yards to score a touchdown while taking enough time off the clock to keep the Lancers from scoring again. It looked like the drive might end as the Highlanders quickly faced a 4th and four.
Deane dropped back to pass and was able to find Marcus Morgan for a gain of ten and a first down. Four plays later, Deane took the snap and rushed forward. He was met quickly in the backfield, but pushed his way into the end zone for a two yard touchdown. Braden Amundson knocked in the extra point to make it a 20-13 game with five seconds left. All the Highlanders had to do at this point was make the tackle on the kickoff.
Amundson booted the ball deep into Lancer territory but made sure a return was necessary. The Lancer return man cut to the right and looked like he had a seam, but a good tackle by Morgan ended the game. After Coach Maz wrapped up his speech, he let the players go celebrate with the student section after beating the Lancers for the first time in four years.

The Highlanders moved to 5-1 on the season and went down to play the Nutley Raiders on Saturday, October 12. However, in heartbreaking fashion, the Raiders scored a game-winning 84-yard touchdown to knock the Highlanders to 5-2 on the season.
The Highlanders hosted the Sparta Spartans Friday, October 18 at 6:30 pm for Senior Night, with a chance to win the division. This hasn’t been done by the Highlanders since 2003, and would have given the team six or more wins for the first time since 2003. Unfortunately, the Highlanders were unable to win the division, but still have a chance to get to six wins this Friday against Vernon.