Sports
Strong Rushing Attack Leads SJV Past RBR, 21-7
By Sean Simmons
LITTLE SILVER - In front of a packed house at Red Bank Regional High School last Friday, the St. John Vianney Lancers spoiled the first home night game for the Bucs with a come from behind 21-7 win in a Shore Conference nondivsional showdown.
"We had a good crowd tonight and you have to give a lot of credit to SJV and their coaches," Red Bank coach Jeff Mauro said.
Defense was the name of the game during the first quarter with both teams battling to a scoreless tie.
The Bucs (0-1) drew first blood with 7:40 left in the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run by Tylar Lesbirel and Casey Calmon's successful extra point attempt gave Red Bank a 7-0 lead. Lesbirel was the Bucs top rusher with 44 yards on 12 carries.
Trailing by seven points at halftime, SJV coach John Amabile realized that he should go back to the basics.
"I blame it on myself because I recognized I should go back to some base football," Amabile said. "I wanted to get into some two-back sets and try to run the football the way I would like to do."
Amabile's plan worked to perfection during the second half and the offensive line paved the way for Charles Davis and Chris Mayo.
The Lancers (1-0) cut the deficit to 7-6 on a 7-yard TD run by Davis with just under eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. The extra point attempt failed.
"I wasn't lowering my shoulder in the first half and getting through," said Davis, who had 20 rushes for 109 yards. "I just had to come out in the second half and prove I could run, but it was definitely our O-line. Even the wide receivers were making great blocks for us. They showed a lot of heart."
During the fourth quarter, a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Mayo and successful two-point conversion attempt put Vianney ahead 14-7 and then Davis added a 1-yard TD run of his own to make the final score 21-7.
"The second half was all about the O-line," said Mayo, who led all rushers with 126 yards on 16 carries and also had an interception on defense. "Without the O-line, the backs can't run and they stepped their game up tremendously."
The Bucs will be looking to pick up their first win of the season when they host the Matawan Huskies on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Huskies are coming off a 15-0 win against Keyport. The Lancers will try to improve to 2-0 when they host the Raritan Rockets at 7 p.m. on Friday night. The Rockets are coming off a dominating 49-0 win against the Mater Dei Seraphs.
