Lakeland High School’s football team finished its season with a 2-8 record after a disappointing 27-26 loss to Great Bridge High School.

Multiple times this season, the Cavs have come out on the short end in close games. To put it in perspective, the Cavs have five losses by a combined 11 points. Had Lakeland been on the other side of those games, they could easily be preparing for the playoffs.

They were in another close battle Friday night at home with Great Bridge. Things looked like they were going to get out of hand early for Lakeland when they went down 21-0 to Great Bridge.

“It was a slow start for us,” Coach Kevin Knight said. “They came out in a little up-tempo offense that kind of caught us off guard, but we adjusted.”

Lakeland started to battle its way back in the second quarter, cutting the lead down 21-14 going into halftime. In the fourth quarter, Lakeland cut the lead to one after a score but couldn’t advance.

Demonta Hawkins, Nate Edghill and Antonio Vaughan all made big plays for Lakeland Friday night. Vaughan had three scores on the night, while Edghill ran back a turnover for a touchdown.

It was senior night for Lakeland, and Knight was proud of the way his seniors played despite a loss. Knight described Lakeland’s close losses as frustrating.

“It’s frustrating when you see your guys playing their hearts out, and we lose close ones,” he said. “And for our seniors, it hurts not to be able to get those guys in the playoffs, but they played hard the whole season.”