LAKE CITY, Fla. — It was a rainy and dreary day Wednesday, but that didn’t stop the Lafayette Hornets from shining bright on the football field.

Lafayette, facing some much bigger schools in a 7-on-7 competition held at Columba High, finished the day with a 3-2 record. The Hornets took fourth place in the FHS 7V7 Northwest Regional Qualifier and earned a spot in the state championship series which will be held June 27 in Haines City.

“Overall, it was a great experience for us,” said Lafayette coach Joey Pearson. “As many young guys as we’ve got, to compete against this level of competition and make it to the final four — we had a good day.”

For a Lafayette team that is accustomed to success and putting up points on offense, Wednesday was no different.

As usual, it was Ben Massey leading the way for the receivers. The rising senior caught 17 passes in the five total games and tallied 216 yards. He grabbed five of Lafayette’s nine touchdowns on the day.

Quarterback Jaxson Beach got everyone involved, connecting with nine different receivers, including five passes to Garris Edwards. Edwards hauled in a 30-yard TD in the first game that helped LHS top Florida High 7-0.

In the second game, the Class 1A Hornets went on to defeat another Class 3A opponent in Newberry, 14-6.

After going 2-1 in pool play, LHS beat Vernon 22-16 in a back-and-forth game to make it to the final four. Massey caught the game-winning TD against Vernon with less than a minute left.

Lafayette’s only losses came to Columbia, falling 21-12 to the Tigers in pool play and then 14-6 in the final four.