NAPLES — Mike Meehan, the Lake Region High football coach, is relieved to know the big injury that came out of his team’s impressive 54-26 win over Camden Hills on Friday night was his.

Meehan likely tore his ACL when hit by players as his quarterback Brock Gibbons was tackled at the sideline.

“The kids just ran through me. It’s the one time all season I stood behind the line and not on the field, and I get knocked out,” said Meehan after the game, his left knee tightly wrapped in a brace. “But this is football, right?”

It was a statement win for the Lakers, who not only improved to 5-1 but created a four-way tie for the top in the eight-man Large School division. Camden Hills, Greely and Mt. Ararat are also 5-1 with two weeks left in the regular season.

“They’re the No. 1 team in our division. They beat Mt. Ararat and we lost to Mt. Ararat early (in the season),” said Gibbons, the Lakers’ quarterback. “It just shows we’ve improved and we’ve been putting the work in, and we come to play.”

There was no doubt in the Lakers’ minds that this was a statement win.

“Last year we were 0-8. We had no seniors. We saw what 0-8 is like. None of us wanted that ever again,” Gibbons said.

Gibbons was outstanding, accounting for 340 yards. The senior ran for 156 yards on 20 carries with three rushing touchdowns, two in the second half. The southpaw also threw for 184 yards and three touchdowns. Gibbons credited the offensive line for opening holes and giving him time to find open receivers.

“Any time (Gibbons) is in the game, you’re in a really, really good position. Brock can run. We haven’t needed to throw the ball much this year. Tonight we know we were going to. (Gibbons) can sling it,” Meehan said. “This is a long time coming for these guys. These guys stuck together. They believe in themselves. The confidence is there. That’s really all it took, a little bit of confidence. These guys are on a roll.”

Camden Hills Coach Chris Christie called Gibbons “a heck of a player” and said he told the Lake Region quarterback that after the game. The Windjammers took a 6-0 lead when quarterback Hollis Schwalm ran 46 yards for a touchdown 58 seconds into the game, but touchdown passes from Gibbons to Jaiden Meehan (eight catches for 73 yards) on back-to-back drives gave the Lakers the lead for good. The first went for 3 yards with 8:27 left in the first quarter, and the second was a 21-yard pass with 3:11 left in the first quarter that gave Lake Region a 16-6 lead.

Lake Region had a strong night on special teams, converting six of its seven 2-point conversion tries. Conversely, the Windjammers struggled to maintain composure, with four personal fouls. The first resulted in the ejection of linebacker/running back Vincent Mainella midway through the first quarter.

“We knew they were physical and certainly well-coached. We just made mistakes. We made it about them instead of making it about us, and you can’t do that,” Christie said. “We like to play physical but the stuff that happened … that’s not how we’ve been playing, and it’s not how we’ll play in the future.”

The Lakers led 32-18 at the half, then opened the third quarter with a seven-play, 51-yard drive culminating with a Gibbons 11-yard touchdown run and a 40-18 lead. Ahead 40-26 after three quarters, Lake Region sealed it with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, a 2-yard Gibbons run and a 27-yard run by Sean Murphy (82 yards on 11 carries).

Isaac Dutille scored a pair of touchdowns for Camden Hills, the first a 2-yard run late in the first half, and the second a 17-yard pass from Schwalm midway through the third quarter.