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But as he continued, it became clear the word he preferred to fall back on when no other seemed to fit -- resilient.
A defense that responded to a pair of first-half touchdowns with two shutout quarters. Resilient.
An offense that kept plugging away with its passing game after picking up only 46 yards through the air in the first half. Resilient.
A quarterback who completed only four of his first 11 passes but threw for 107 yards and two touchdowns over the next seven minutes. Resilient.
"They have faith in each other," Lewis said. "... We weren't going to get down on ourselves tonight."
They never needed to.
Hilton Head Christian turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 33-14 win Friday night against Northwood Academy at Orangeburg Prep to capture its second SCISAA Class 2-A state championship in four years.
The Eagles trailed 14-13 at the half but responded with 20 unanswered points over the final 24 minutes.
"We weren't playing to our potential in that first half, and we knew that. So no, we weren't worried at all," senior Zac Lenns said. "Our offense wasn't doing its job. We had to pick it up."
Luke Sirgo and the Eagles' passing game provided the heavy lifting. Sirgo completed 4 of 7 passes in the third quarter for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns. With the Chargers double-teaming Eagles receiver Ethan Gort most of the night, Sirgo elected to get the rest of his playmakers involved. Sophomore Alex Martin answered the call on the opening drive of the half with a pair of third-down catches, the second of which went for a 38-yard score to give the Eagles the lead.
"I have confidence in pretty much any receiver we throw out on the field, so I'm just looking at coverage," Sirgo said. "I'm scanning the field for the best matchup."
Sirgo's rushing attack -- which accounted for 65 yards -- helped draw in the Northwood Academy defense on the next drive. And the junior quarterback found Gort for his school-record 16th touchdown on a fourth-down play to give the Eagles a 13-point advantage. It was Gort's only catch of the night.
The Eagles also scored on a fourth-down passing play in the first half, on which Lenns caught a 31-yard touchdown.
"We felt like we could get some matchups in certain formations in that down and distance situation that we could take advantage of," Lewis said. "Is it a risk? Sure it is -- but it's not our style to be safe."
The Chargers couldn't find those same advantageous matchups. They rode their workhorse, running back Uriah Singleton, to two rushing touchdowns for their halftime lead. But Singleton -- at least by his standards -- was a non-factor for much of the night and finished with 99 yards.
Hilton Head Christian bottled up Singleton after the break, limiting him to 37 yards on 12 carries.
"In the second half, they played like they wanted it more than us," said Singleton, who had 2,491 yards entering the night. "We couldn't move the ball. They were more physical than we were."
The Eagles' pass rush -- led by three sacks from JaBrook Tucker -- along with their secondary kept Chargers quarterback Ty Powell from much more success. Hilton Head Christian picked off Powell three times. Weston Butler, Brad Meccariello and James Berl had the interceptions.
"I have great senior leadership on that defense and just a bunch of hard hat, lunch bucket guys who just work hard, never give up on plays," Lewis said.
The Hilton Head Christian coach looked up and added one final phrase.
"And they're resilient."
