'We were ready to bring it': Lake defense swarms Jackson in Federal League football win
HARTVILLE — Friday night had a turn-back-the-clock feel to Lake High School football coach Dan DeGeorge, echoing back to dominating defenses of Blue Streaks past.
To the Jackson Polar Bears, Friday probably just had a feeling of pain.
Lake swarmed quarterback Lucas Ecrement and short-circuited Jackson's spread offense in a punishing 19-7 Federal League win at Blue Streak Stadium.
"That's been our strength all year, and we knew that going into the season," DeGeorge said of the defense after his team's fifth straight win since a season-opening 12-7 loss to Alliance. "Especially with some of our early injuries, we have to lean even more on our defense. We did that for years back in the day when Coach (Jeff) Durbin was here and won a bunch of games 10-3 and 10-7. They are playing really well."
It is the Blue Streaks' fourth straight game of allowing 14 points or less, and it leaves them as one of two undefeated teams remaining in the league. McKinley (5-1, 3-0) is the other, and Lake (5-1, 2-0) goes to Benson Stadium next week for a matchup of last year's league co-champions.
Lake was all over the talented Ecrement on Friday, sacking him 10 times and hitting him with regularity.
Senior linebacker Joey Garro led the way with three sacks, while junior linemen Ryan Lippe and Hunter Patterson had two each. Lippe also recovered a fumble for defensive coordinator Ron Viscounte's attacking crew.
"All week we had great practices and we were ready to bring it," Garro said. "Coach Viscounte had us ready."
Senior linebacker Evan Brady, junior linebacker Charlie Christopher and senior defensive back Caden Yoder added a sack each.
Christopher delivered some loud hits from his inside linebacker spot and capped the Blue Streaks' defensive performance with an interception in the final minutes. Junior Dylan Sponseller also snagged a pick for Lake, which held the Polar Bears to 106 yards of total offense one week after they rolled up 49 points and 486 yards during a rout of Perry.
"Well, they beat our ass," Jackson head coach Jay Rohr said about the Blue Streaks. "That's a great football team. We didn't execute. We didn't play well, really in all three phases of the football game."
Jackson's only points came from its defense. Senior cornerback Anthony Fuline intercepted Noah Kubasky late in the first half and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown — Fuline's third pick six of the season.
The Polar Bears (4-2, 2-1) drove into Lake territory on only one possession, getting as far as the 36. Jackson had no offensive plays longer than 19 yards on a night its four-game winning streak was snapped.
"They created pressure early and often," Rohr said. "At the end of the day, it got to our offensive line. It got to Lucas as the game progressed. But it starts with me and our offensive staff. Our game plan probably didn't set them up for success."
Ecrement completed 14 of 31 passes for 116 yards and the two interceptions. Junior Noah Colando caught four passes for 52 yards.
Lake's pulverizing defense overshadowed a sloppy performance in other areas that resulted in a lot of points left on the table.
Lake missed three field goals, with Fuline blocking a 26-yarder and Celton Dutton missing two 30-yarders.
Senior Nate Baker definitely was a bright spot at tailback for Lake, running 26 times for 148 yards and a touchdown. Christopher added a 1-yard TD run on Lake's opening possession of the game.
The junior Kubasky and senior Cale Jarvis combined to complete 10 of 12 passes for 76 yards for Lake. Kubasky threw a 24-yard TD pass to junior Ethan Hunt in the second quarter.
"We talked a lot all week about attitude and effort, and how important that is in the history of our program, going into a game like this," DeGeorge said. "Our kids bought into that and played well. I was proud of them."
DeGeorge paused, then added, "And, yes, our defense is good."
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Lake High School football's defense dominates Jackson in win
