After winning on a miraculous finish in overtime the previous week at crosstown rival Yorktown, Lakeland knew it was no time for a letdown when it traveled to Peekskill, which started 2-0 in its return to Section 1 football, on Saturday night in front of an overflow crowd at Torpy Field.
Mission accomplished as the Hornets broke open a close game at halftime en route to a 51-22 victory, handing the Red Devils their first loss.
“Our captains, Mike Lucia, Mike Zumatto, Justin Zumbo, Anthony Ray, basically held us accountable,” said Lakeland’s Gio LaPeruta. “They told us our heads can’t be too big, it’s Peekskill, it’s a big league game, we need this to make the playoffs. We kept our heads straight, kept the focus on this game and we came out victorious again.”
One big reason why the Hornets came out victorious was the effort of their offensive line, led by Zumbo (4 tackles), the center.
“The four other offensive linemen are really committed to coming to work every day, it’s going to pay off, I told them it was going to pay off at the start of the season,” Zumbo said. “It’s starting to pay off. They are getting better every week and I expect us to get more yards at Nyack next week.”
Zumbo beamed with pride when talking about his teammates on the offensive line.
“Frank Imbrogno, who’s our right tackle, put a bunch of work in the offseason,” Zumbo said. “Jack Sand, our right guard, from Stepinac, has done a really good job learning the system and understanding the plays, our left guard Scottie Samoyedny, and left tackle Brian Godfrey, both of them put in a big amount of work this offseason to get to where they are.”
Zumbo and his fellow linemen created plenty of holes on Lakeland’s opening 61-yard drive, which culminated on a 1-yard touchdown run by Zumatto (13 rushes, 122 yards, 3 TDs, 2 receptions, 14 yards, 3 tackles). The extra point from Dylan Vazquez (3-4 PAT) put the Hornets up 7-0 with 7:35 to go in the opening quarter.
“It was huge,” Zumatto said of his score. “Coming into this game, we knew we had to take care of business, like Gio said, this is a league game, we have to come in, we have to fight hard. This game means just as much as Yorktown does. Obviously Yorktown being our rival was bigger but this game meant just as much for the playoffs and that’s our goal right now. So getting in the endzone early was big.”
A 2-yard touchdown run by Gio LaPeruta (4-8, 8 yards, 2-point conversion, 13 rushes, 112 yards, 2 TDs, 2 tackles) 1 minute, 34 seconds into the second quarter increased Lakeland’s advantage to 13-0.
“Basically, I just told coach, we are on the 2-yard line, we are struggling a little bit, we need to get some yards, coach, just give me the ball, I’ll get in, no matter what, so he gave me the ball and I got in,” LaPeruta said.
Peekskill responded with an 80-yard drive, finished off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Craig Jacobs III before a 10-yard scamper by Zumatto, along with a 2-point conversion reception from Ray, put the Hornets up 21-6 with 2:05 to go before halftime.
“I just trusted my line, I know they are going to make their blocks,” Zumatto said. “I know they are going to be downfield, making plays for me, so I just trusted them. I made a cut, I kind of stumbled, then I just picked myself up and got in the end zone.”
The Red Devils answered back when they scored on the final play of the half, on a 26-yard touchdown pass by Christian Preston, with the 2-point conversion trimming Lakeland’s lead to 21-14.
LaPeruta gave Lakeland the momentum right back when he scored on an electric 45-yard touchdown run on the Hornets’ first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, with the 2-point conversion putting the Hornets up 29-14.
“At the end of the half, we were down after that we let up that touchdown, but one of our coaches, coach Ray (Gualano, assistant), he was telling me, your dancing, stop dancing, you are dancing too much, run straight and run angry,” LaPeruta said. “So we got a stop on defense, we had the momentum, coach put me in at running back, and I knew I had to listen to coach Ray, just run straight and scored.”
A 17-yard touchdown run by Zumatto, followed by the run on the 2-point conversion by Ray, gave Lakeland a 37-14 lead with 4:22 to go in the third quarter.
Not resting on their laurels, the Hornets went up 44-14 almost three minutes later on a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown by Ray (4 receptions, 43 yards, 3 rushes, 12 yards, three 2-point conversion, 2 receiving, 1 rushing, 8 tackles).
“It felt amazing to score and finally shut them out, the blocking was amazing the whole game and that was a great team win and everybody did their job,” Ray said.
Sophomore Nate Horowitz (4 rushes, 13 yards, 2 tackles) finished Lakeland’s scoring on a 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, his first on the varsity, with Vazquez’s PAT coming afterward, making it 51-14.
“It was great to score tonight on my first varsity carry,” Horowitz said. “I appreciate coach (head coach Ryan Shilling) giving me the opportunity. My O-line and fullback [Louis Murray] did a great job, and opened a huge hole and made my job easy. It was great to get another win, and looking forward to getting back to work for Nyack.”
Dan Horowitz (4-5, 43 yards, 2-point conversion, 2 rushes, 8 yards), Chris Spence (4 rushes, 40 yards, 1 tackle), Samoyedny (11 tackles), Imbrogno (5 tackles, 1 for loss), Jake Kenney and Frank Veca (4 tackles each), Zavier Alli (3 tackles), Aidan Leonard (3 tackles, 2 for loss), Pat Gibson, Prince Kumi-Mensah, Steven Fata, and Javier Diaz (1 tackle each) and Adrian Ramirez (2 touchbacks) also contributed to the win.
Lakeland (2-1) will next play at Nyack at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25.
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