Lakewood Ranch High halts DeSoto for season-ending win

ARCADIA -- After starting the season 1-7, the Lakewood Ranch Mustangs were able to end their season with back-to-back victories as they held on for a 23-21 victory over DeSoto County.

A week after cruising to victory over North Port, the Mustangs (3-7) were forced to fight until the final whistle in Friday's season finale.

DeSoto County had a chance to win the game with 10 seconds left following a fumble by Ranch tailback Justin Fischer. The 49-yard attempt by junior placekicker Ceasar Barajas sailed wide right, though, securing the Mustang victory.

"Hopefully he missed it. Hopefully he did something wrong," Fisher said when asked what he was thinking during the final kick.

The late fumble was the lone blemish in an otherwise spectacular performance by Fischer in his final high school game. The senior totaled 175 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries to surpass 1,000 yards rushing on the season and lead his team to victory.

"I'm happy for him," Head coach Shawn Trent said after the game. "A couple of those touchdowns he made happen on his own tonight."

The Bulldogs (2-8) struck first on a 1-yard touchdown run by Elijah Arthur late in the first quarter. Ranch answered on its next possession as senior tailback Justin Fischer ran it in from 10 yards out for his first touchdown of the night.

The lead didn't last long, though, as Keshawn Smith took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to give DeSoto a 14-7 lead. Two more scores by Fischer, one in the second quarter and one in the third, and a field goal gave the Mustangs a 23-14 lead entering the fourth.

"I saw (anger) after halftime," Fisher said after the game. "We knew should we should have been up higher and we capitalized."

DeSoto cut the deficit to two with just over five minutes remaining. The Bulldogs had multiple chances to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, but failed to score again after losing a fumble and missing a field goal on their last two possessions.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch High halts DeSoto for season-ending win ."