Photos by Jim MacLean
Declan Connors heads for the end zone for his second touchdown in win over Lakeland. Luke Ryan breaks free for a touchdown carry for the Foxes. Mac Keller hauls in a pass for Fox Lane. Justin Sarote fires a pass for Fox Lane against Lakeland.
By JIM MACLEAN
It had been a long week for the Fox Lane varsity football team heading into homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 12, as the Foxes hosted Lakeland.
Fox Lane was coming off a tough loss on the road in a game where they saw both senior quarterback John Czernyk and senior wide receiver Will Rudolph go down with season ending injuries. Two key players out, and the Foxes needed to find some answers as a team and find a way to respond. It didn’t help when Justin Sarote, a key starter on defense who was filling in at quarterback, also went out with an injury in the third quarter, but the Foxes answered the call with a gritty performance, pulling out a 28-14 victory.
Declan Connors ran for a pair of touchdowns, and after Luke Ryan added a fourth quarter touchdown carry the Fox Lane defense was able to close it out for a hard-fought victory.
“We had to win this game, homecoming, undefeated at home, all the adversity with Rudy and John being out, that hurts, but we knew we had to fight and come together as a team to get this win,” said Connors as the Foxes celebrated after the win.
Connors certainly did his part, carrying the load with 21 carries for 184 yards rushing and scoring the two touchdowns, and he wasn’t the only one as Fox Lane rushed for 340 yards. The Foxes couldn’t have done that without the effort in the trenches as Fox Lane faced a big lineup from Lakeland along the line and found a way to get the job done.
“All the stuff that’s happened it was a little strange, guys having to do some things they’re not used to playing different positions, we overcame a lot,” admitted Fox Lane coach Andrew Giuliano. “Then five (Sarote) went down, more adversity to overcome, and the guys really stepped up. I’m so proud of our line, they all stepped up and did a really nice job today to let us run the ball. They (Lakeland) were monsters on the line, our guys were not as big, but they had a lot of grit and rallied around each other. Coach (Rylan) Borror did a nice job working with them all week to allow us to do what we did today.”
It all got off to a great start as Fox Lane took the opening kick off, and on the first play from scrimmage Connors broke free for a 53-yard touchdown carry and a 7-0 lead after the PAT by Owen Heilman.
Lakeland answered right back on its first drive to tie it up at 7-7, and the Foxes responded on their next possession. Fox Lane put together a drive behind two carries for a first down from Connors. The drive seemed to stall, but a flea-flicker pass from Nate Getman to Mac Keller gave the Foxes a first down at the Lakeland 12-yard line. Sarote carried it in on the QB keeper on the next play for a 12-yard touchdown carry and a 14-7 Fox Lane lead.
Once again Lakeland answered to tie it up at 14-14 in the second quarter, but Fox Lane got a big turnover as Raul Arriaga recovered a fumble and returned it to the Lakeland 31-yard line. Five plays later, Connors punched it in with a 2-yard touchdown carry to make it 21-14 with just 17 seconds left in the first half.
It was a defensive battle throughout most of the second half, and then Luke Ryan stepped up getting a chance in the backfield for the Foxes with Sarote on the sideline. Ryan carried for a first down on his first run, and then he took off on his second carry for a 55-yard touchdown to make it 28-14 with 2:26 left to play.
Fox Lane closed it out as Logan Mammola came up with an interception to stop Lakeland on its final drive.
In addition to Connors gaining 184 yards, Sarote had a 56-yard run and finished with nine carries for 91 yards and the 12-yard touchdown carry before he had to leave the game. Sarote also had seven tackles, including one for a loss on defense. Ryan finished with two carries for 64 yards and a touchdown, while on defense he had 10 tackles to lead the Foxes. Keller had nine tackles, a fumble return for 27 yards, and he batted down a pass to end fourth quarter drive. Mammola had six tackles and the interception.