A 48-32 victory by Lakeside left the Bainbridge High School varsity football team with their first league loss, and ranked in last place in the Metro Valley Division (0-1 in conference, 1-2 overall).

Franklin High, having not yet won or lost a game, nevertheless retains the lead spot (0-0).

West Seattle, though having technically suffered more losses (0-3 overall), has yet to play a league game and so retains fourth place, just above the Spartans.

The guests scored first last Friday, with about seven minutes left in the first quarter, and the Lions remained alone on the board until well into the second as Bainbridge struggled to gain ground.

At last the Spartans put up some points (20-6) with about 1:29 left in the half.

BHS played better in the third, and the game entered its final quarter with Bainbridge still behind, 34-19.

More of the same in the fourth saw the Spartans notch points, but not enough to come back from the deficit into which they’d slumped in the first half. The Spartans played to the buzzer, though, even scoring a final touchdown with something like three seconds left.

BHS Head Coach Jeff Rouser praised the Lions, saying it was a well-earned win for the visitors.

“They’re a well-coached team; they got a lot of talent,” he said.

Rouser said the island squad’s early mistakes ultimately proved insurmountable, though he’d had hope even late in the game.

“We got started really slow,” he said. “I thought we were going to come back in the second half, but too little, too late. The defense didn’t play well tonight.”

It was a lackluster defense, Rouser said, that negated any gains the Spartan offense managed to make.

“We got to play harder on defense,” he said. “We just gave up too much.”

The Spartans will host Ingraham (2-1 overall) at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, their last home game until homecoming (Oct. 19, against West Seattle).