Sweet victory for Round Lake
Tasting victory was a sweet thing indeed for Round Lake's football team Friday night.
Getting a shutout made it sweeter still, and Round Lake earned a 42-0 victory over visiting Sullivan in a nonconference game.
The Panthers broke a 26-game losing streak which extended back to the second week of the 2007 season. Round Lake's last win was over Maine East.
"It feels incredible - we haven't had done something like this for so long," said Jorge Venegas, who was in the backfield on offense and at linebacker on defense. "We accomplished our goal, and everybody came with the mentality to win."
It also notched the first-ever win for coach John Coursey after consecutive 0-9 seasons.
"I don't know if I'm the happiest guy in the world, but I'm happy for our kids," Coursey said. "They work hard and we've worked hard since we came here. It's nice to get a result.
"Wins don't make you as happy. You take the losses a lot harder but obviously this one is nice. It now has taken the monkey off our back, and now we can work toward the next one."
The Panthers (1-1) easily got past the Tigers (0-2), who had a coaching change last summer after a 4-5 campaign a year ago.
"We came out quickly and wanted to confuse (Sullivan) a little bit," said Coursey. "When someone gets up on you like that, you lose a little bit of confidence."
The Panthers attacked right away on their opening series. After just three plays, Jacoby Griffin (9 carries, 114 yards and 3 TDs) scampered for a 21-yard score. Griffin also ran in the 2-point conversion.
"I came out and coach Coursey was saying, 'This was for you," said Griffin, a senior. "I just got the ball and ran for the end zone."
Griffin also scored once again on the Panthers' second possession on a 6-yard run with 5:53 remaining in the opening quarter, increasing the lead to 16-0.
Griffin added his third score and broke off 7 tackles for an amazing jaunt to the end zone from 15 yards out in the second quarter.
"I really didn't know what was happening," Griffin said. "My helmet was coming off and I was trying to stay on feet. My knee pads were coming out and my helmet was coming undone."
Panthers got their other scores from Venegas (12 carries, 78 yards) on a 5-yard burst, Danny Vega (2 carries, 22 yards) from 14 yards and Edgar Rivera (4 carries, 47 yards) on a 23-yard run.
Defensively, Round Lake held Sullivan without a first down in the first half. The Tigers managed 3 first downs, 2 by penalty and was limited to minus 15 yards of total offense.
"I thought our defense can be really good this year," Coursey said. "This year we are better tacklers and aggressive to the ball, with a little bit more speed. We still need to get better, but I think it's going to be our strength. It was a nice thing to accomplish and I'm not sure the last time we had a shut out here at Round Lake."