Lakeland dominates Manchester 28-0 to reach North 1 Group 2 final by Paul Schwartz of The Record
WANAQUE – The first thing Lakeland coach Tom McCormack had his players did after they completed their 28-0 win over Manchester, clinching a spot in the North 1, group 2 finals, was to bend down and kiss their home field grass.
But if the Lancers can play as well as they have over the last six weeks they could play there, Paramus Park Mall or the middle of Ringwood Avenue and they’d be tough to beat.
Manchester battled hard for 48 minutes Friday night and even had a couple of chances to get back into the game, but the Lancers controlled play on both sides of the ball from the opening drive to the final whistle to earn a rematch with Newton, the only team to beat Lakeland this year.
“We knew that Manchester had an experienced team and they played as hard as they could all night and never panicked,’’ said McCormack. “When you play against a Wing-T team like they are you have to keep attacking and when we relaxed, they came at us. But this is one of the best groups in the history of this school and they deserve to go to the show.’’
The leaders Friday were Lakeland’s two-way beast, senior running back Kelvin Gonzalez who gained 89 yards on the ground and scored twice, including an 11-yard scoring pass from junior quarterback Mike McKay which opened a 14-0 halftime lead to 21-0, McKay who threw for two touchdowns, but did much more damage with his feet – 162 yards and the clinching 41 yard ramble late in the third quarter.
And the coach’s nephew, Chris McCormack, kicked four extra points and made a huge fumble recovery at the Lancer 10-yard line late in the first half when Manchester seemed poised to make it a game.
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Lakeland let the opening kickoff go out of bounds and then turned the ball over to Gonzalez. He carried the ball on eight of the nine plays on the first drive, gaining 64 of the 65 yards on runs to the left, right and up the middle, the first going for 30 yards and the last a two-yard touchdown. Chris MacCormack kicked the extra point and 3:47 in, Manchester was on its heels.
The Falcons went three and out but caught a break when Lakeland muffed the punt and Manchester recovered at the Lancer 39. But another three and out limited the damage and even though Lakeland eventually got the ball back at its own 2, there was a sense of calmness on the Lakeland sideline.
That’s where McKay took over. He led the Lancers on a 13 play, seven minute drive, with keeper runs of 40 and 24 yards, but his best plays came on a pair of third down passes, one of 12 yards to Patrick Mullin when the Lancers faced a third and 4 from its own 16 and the second a three yard strike to Michael Canzone on third and goal for the score with 10:09 left in the half.
Manchester rallied behind quarterback Antonio Biscotti and running back Shasmar Hughes and moved from its own 41 to the Lakeland 5 in six quick plays. But on the seventh, an exchange went awry and McCormack was there for the big recovery. The falcons managed three first downs and 30 yards offense over the final 30 minutes.
Hail to Alma Mater
Both coaches in the game are alumni of their respective schools, with Rande Roca of Manchester graduating in 1984 and Tom McCormack of Lakeland, a member of the Lancer class of 1990.