Waubonsie Valley eases past Lake Park
Matt Schapen acted like he'd been there before.
He's played plenty of football - freshman B team, sophomore B team, junior varsity. Toting off a varsity game ball, this was different.
The senior quarterback earned the honor after helping lead Waubonsie Valley to a 45-7 win over host Lake Park on Friday in Roselle.
Schapen completed 8 of 13 passes for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns, both to Demetrius Gray, and ran 2 yards for another touchdown as the Warriors moved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the Upstate Eight Conference's Valley division.
"We've all got to do our own part. I did my job tonight," said Schapen, who got the call with Waubonsie starting quarterback Tommy Kolzow out from concussion symptoms suffered last week against Bartlett. Kolzow was one of seven Warrior starters out injured.
"This is definitely the first week I got regular reps in, but I've been working my whole life at quarterback," said the 6-foot-2, 165-pound Schapen.
"We told him it was no different from a 'JV' game, it's just Friday night under the lights," said Warriors coach Paul Murphy.
To help Schapen out, Murphy counted on linemen Chris Stercay, Shadeed Williford, Brian Nicolls, Matt Wesley and Adam Scott.
They paved the way for 235 yards rushing including 81 yards and a 40-yard touchdown run from Jordan Johnson and 60 yards from Devon Morgan, who scored on an 8-yard run.
"When we told them we were going to pound the ball (the linemen) were excited," Murphy said. "Linemen want to run block."
Lake Park (0-4, 0-2), down 31-0 at halftime, relies heavily on sophomores quarterback Zach Gehant and back Ronnie Castaldo, who with 6:23 left to play scored on a 1-yard run set up by Kevin Wilson's 65-yard jaunt.
Lancers mistakes allowed Waubonsie Valley to live in the Lancers' territory in the first half. Lake Park committed one of its 6 fumbles on the first play from scrimmage and Schapen capitalized with a 15-yard rollout and touchdown strike to Gray.
"I saw open field," said Gray, who later blistered the left sideline on a 36-yard fly pattern to score.
Thus began for Lake Park a downward spiral that kept the Lancers out of Waubonsie turf until about 2 minutes remained in the third quarter.
Lake Park - which saw lineman Nick Borre leave with an unconfirmed injury - also has seniors in key positions, like middle linebacker Daryl Vittal.
"Definitely I think we'll keep putting in the work necessary," Vittal said. "We all know we have to do it, and we can definitely turn this season around."