Broken play perfect fix for Conant

Lake Park may have thought it was getting a break when, on a Conant point-after-touchdown attempt, Cougars holder and quarterback Sean Smith bobbled the snap.

After regaining control of the ball, Smith scrambled in the backfield and eventually found receiver Ryan Andrews in the right side of the end zone, giving Conant a 15-7 third-quarter lead.

The improvised 2-point conversion gave Conant just enough room to hold off a late Lake Park charge as the Cougars escaped Roselle with a 15-13 nonconference victory.

Conant coach Bill Modelski admitted the play was far from designed and credited Smith's instincts as a passer.

"He's a real instinctive player," Modelski said. "He's sloppy sometimes, but he's instinctive, and that's really why he's our quarterback, because of plays like that.

"He sometimes just makes a play out of nothing."

Smith's instincts were put to the test only after a nifty 97-yard kickoff return by Kendall Lane. Lane fielded junior Artie Monaco's kickoff at his own 3, followed his blockers into a seam in the middle of the field, then broke through Monaco's tackle attempt before outrunning a pair of Lancers down the left sideline for the score.

"All week in practice (blocker) Otto Linderman would say 'stay behind me,'" Lane said. "So I looked for (Linderman), stayed behind him and saw one more person. Coach said make one cut and go, and that's all that happened."

The Lancers (0-1) crept within 2 points of Conant late in the fourth quarter as junior quarterback Larry Nawrot engineered a 10-play, 87-yard drive that culminated with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Nawrot to wideout Kyle Steiger.

Nawrot tried to thread a tight pass on the 2-point conversion attempt that would have tied the score, but a Cougars defender knocked the ball to the ground. A successful kickoff recovery by Mitch Comstock allowed Conant to run out the clock.