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It was a heartbreaking night for the Lafayette Christian football team. Falling 54-30 to Unity in the state semifinals. The Cougars came agonizingly short of hosting the state championship game next week.

The game was a sluggish defensive stalemate to start as neither team could open the scoring in the first quarter. Unity would eventually break through and take a 7-0 lead less than 90 seconds into the second quarter.

The Cougars answered with a long drive punctuated by a 1-yard touchdown run by Logan Childree that saw the team tie the game up with an extra point.

The Lions scored 19 straight points to end the half, taking a 26-7 lead into the break.

The Cougars attempted a second half rally, but it came up short against the reigning state champions. 

The second half started about as well as it could have for Lafayette Christian. Eli Carroll stripped the ball and took it 55 yards to the house. The Cougars converted an onside kick with just 18 seconds off the clock in the third quarter. Unfortunately for the faithful, an interception doomed the Cougars chances of cutting the Unity lead down to one score.

The teams would trade touchdowns from there as both offenses sparked to life in the second half. After a quick Unity touchdown that put the Lions up 33-14, the Cougars answered back with a 30-yard rushing touchdown from David Karvelas, the team’s senior quarterback who played in his final game with the Cougars on Friday night.

The Lions would strike back before Caleb Hinton rumbled 30 yards into the end zone to cut the Unity lead to 40-30 late in the third quarter.

That would be as close as the Cougars would get to getting back into the game as the Lions closed out the game with a trio of scores in the fourth quarter. 

Sometimes sports are bigger than the final score displayed on the scoreboard. In the fourth quarter of the game on Friday night, Johnathan Ross suffered a serious injury. The junior playmaker was down for an extended period of time before being taken away from the stadium in an ambulance. The status of Ross weighed heavily on the proceedings late in the contest.

Lafayette Christian enjoyed another successful season, but will be left with a bitter taste after beating Unity 38-26 during the regular season.