Lake Park spoils Elgin's homecoming game
The more soggy and slippery Elgin's Memorial Field got, the more important the offensive line was.
Lake Park used a strong push from its offensive line to control the line of scrimmage and take a 34-0 halftime lead en route to a 34-6 victory over host Elgin in Upstate Eight Conference action Friday night.
"We just kept driving," said Lancers' running back Artie Monaco, who finished with 117 yards on 11 carries. "We couldn't make cuts. Our line helped us. We ran straight and got 10 to 15 yards a play."
Monaco punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to put Lake Park (4-1, 3-0) up 27-0 with 2:46 left in the first half. The senior finished the game averaging 10.6 yards per carry. Equally impressive was fellow running back Clay Cooper (9 carries, 81 yards). Cooper spouted out a 26-yard scoring run on Lake Park's opening possession to put the Lancers ahead 7-0 just 3 minutes, 20 seconds into play.
Cooper added 1-yard scoring run 1:00 before halftime and also caught a 8-yard touchdown pass from Larry Nawrot (7 of 11, 105 yards).
"The backs made their plays, but the linemen made it happen," Lake Park offensive coordinator Chris Roll said. "To allow linemen to run drives like that, it's really what builds good linemen."
Nawrot added an 11-yard scoring pass to Collin Mruk to round out the Lancers' 34 first-half points, but Elgin (1-4, 1-1) gained its composure in the second half.
Led by junior Ray Crosby (6 carries, 59 yards) the Maroons, who were celebrating homecoming, outscored Lake Park 6-0 in the second half. Craig McKenzie (6 carries, 30 yards) put the Maroons on the board with a 5-yard touchdown run with 3:44 left in the third period.
As the mist and rain eased up, so did Elgin's handle on the football. The Maroons fumbled the ball 3 times in the first half, all of which resulted in turnovers. Running back Jordan Dean also struggled with the wet conditions finishing the game with just 38 yards on 11 carries.
"It was hard to get our quickness going and that hurt us early," Elgin coach Dave Bierman said. "They did a good job upfront early."