After Lakeland lost its regular-season finale 42-7 against visiting Brewster on Oct. 23, it seemed hosting Rye in the quarterfinals of the Section 1 Class A Tournament, in its first home playoff game since 2019, would be a tall order on Friday.
Rye entered the contest as the defending Class A state champion and winners of two state titles in the last three years, including in 2023 when the Garnets won the Class B crown. Add to that, the Garnets are coached by Dino Garr, who has won five state titles at Rye and has the most wins in state history.
But as ESPN legend Chris Berman famously said, “That’s why they play the games.”
The Hornets indeed showed why they play the games, as No. 2N Lakeland stunned No. 3S Rye 27-18, led by junior quarterback Gio LaPeruta (26 rushes, 156 yards, 2 TDs, 2-point conversion, 6-11, 96 yards, 2 TDs).
Beating Rye, LaPeruta said, “means everything, there is no experience like this.”
He added that “it’s the greatest experience I've ever had. High school football is the greatest sport, football is the greatest sport, and to do it like that is just crazy. I’m at a loss for words to be honest with you.”
Lakeland senior captain Anthony Ray (3 receptions, 35 yards, TD, 5 tackles, interception) said that the Hornets were confident going into the game.
“It’s crazy,” Ray said. “We had a great game plan all week and we knew we could do it. We knew it wasn’t going to be our last game ever.”
Lakeland coach Ryan Shilling said that how far the Hornets have come over the last four years is incredible.
“It’s because of the senior class, their belief in the system, their belief in me, their belief in the coaching staff, and all the hard work they put in,” Shilling said. “They’ve led the underclassmen and they’ve inspired the underclassmen to believe as well. That belief was shown tonight. I’m so proud of the seniors and the whole team tonight for all the trust that they put in me and playing so hard out there.”
Louis Murray, Mike Lucia (captain, 3 receptions, 58 yards, TD, 5 tackles, interception), Mike Zumatto (captain, 11 rushes, 97 yards, 6 tackles, forced fumble, fumble recovery), Pat Gibosn, Prince Kumi-Mensah, Luca Pagano, Justin Zumbo (captain), and Frank Veca are the Hornet seniors along with Ray.
Shilling also credited the Hornets’ previous coaches, Rob Cappelli and Mike Meadows, for making such a night possible.
“It’s a great win for our program,” Shilling said. “I’m proud to build on the foundation that coach Cappelli and coach Meadows started.”
After Zumatto on defense forced a fumble and recovered it, Lakeland’s offense got off to an electric start when LaPeruta ran up the middle, a constant theme during the evening, 54 yards for a touchdown. That put the Hornets up 6-0 one minute and 14 seconds into the game.
Lakeland increased its advantage to 14-0 when LaPeruta connected with Lucia on a 45-yard touchdown pass, before running in the 2-point conversion, with six minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
“Mike went one on one, he’s my best friend forever,” LaPeruta said. “I saw him one on one, I was about to get hit. I trusted him, I threw him the ball, he made a great play, the line gave me great protection. We scored. That was a crazy throw, crazy play by Mike too.”
Rye rebounded with 18 second-quarter points to go up 18-14 at halftime but the Hornets answered back when LaPeruta scored on a 3-yard touchdown run, with Dylan Vazquez’s PAT putting Lakeland up 21-18 with 6:02 remaining in the third quarter.
“The last Lakeland team to have a home playoff game here, they came in and gave us a talk,” LaPeruta said. “They got us juiced up. We could relate to them a little bit more, they are kind of our age, in our range. They gave us a crazy halftime speech, that got the juices flowing. We came out and pounded it, pounded it, and scored.”
Lakeland was able to pound it thanks to the dominant play of its offensive line.
“A couple of weeks ago, we lost (due to injury) one of our better players, our better linemen, Brian Godfrey, left tackle,” Shilling said. “He came back and along with Frank Imbrogno, Justin Zumbo, Jack Sand, Tristan Wharton, all those guys, and our tight end, Aidan Leonard, did a tremendous job. But having him (Godfrey) back, solidified our line, gave us that boost that we needed, mentally and physically. I give a ton of kudos to Brian Godfrey for battling through and playing tonight.”
Lakeland registered the final score of the game on a 17-yard touchdown pass from LaPeruta to Ray with 6:12 remaining in the contest, after Shilling called a time out.
“We kind of audibled it,” Ray said. “We were doing the formation and coach Shilling made a great call to put me on a slant, and Gio Lap just told me to run it, I did, and it worked.”
LaPeruta concurred.
“That was a great play call by coach Shilling,” LaPeruta said. “They were just coming down on the run, coming down on the run, so we made Anthony slip and run across. I tucked it, he came down, I saw Anthony, I threw it, he made a great catch, got in the end zone. It was a great play call by coach Shilling and a great play by Anthony Ray.”
Shilling spread the love among his coaches afterwards.
“Offensively, give all the credit to my brother, who is my offensive coordinator Kyle Shilling, he put together the game plan tonight,” Ryan Shilling said. “He put us in a great position to win. In the second half, Anthony Fiorelli, my defensive coordinator, made the adjustment to go two-high and put Aidan Leonard at defensive end, and that proved to be the difference. A head coach is only as good as his assistants, and my assistants did a heck of a job tonight.”
Leonard (4 tackles, 2 sacks, interception, 3-yard reception), Scottie Samoyedny (3 tackles), Carter Ruggieri (3 tackles), Imbrogno (2 tackles, one for loss), Zumbo (2 tackles), Chris Spence (1 tackle), LaPeruta (1 tackle), and Vazquez (1 tackle) all contributed to the Hornets’ defensive effort, that saw them shut out the Garnets in the second half.
Lakeland (6-3) will next play at No. 1S Clarkstown South (9-0) in a semifinal matchup, 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6.
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