Growing Pains: Young Lions Start 0-2 After Loss to Brick Township

Losing 18 starters is tough to handle, but losing 18 starters from a team that went undefeated, winning every game by 20 points is something Lacey is having trouble replacing.

After beating the Brick Dragons last year 38-0, the Lions faced a revamped Dragons team that ran the spread option. But it might have been a stout defense that caught Lacey off guard, as Brick pulled away with a 16-7 win.

In the first half of the game, Lacey’s offense totaled negative two yards of offense, four three-and-outs, and their only first down was aided by an offside penalty. Junior quarterback Brandon Boos threw the ball three times, completing one pass for negative four yards. Boos was also sacked twice in the opening half.

Although down 13-0, the Lacey defense held up pretty well and kept their team in the game. The Lions forced punts on the first three drives, but yielded touchdowns on the next two. A jet sweep reverse caught the Lions over pursuing to the ball and became a 38-yard touchdown run. The Lacey offesnse could not find a way to pick up the defense going 3-and-out before a 15-yard touchdown pass on 3^rd-and-11 put the Dragons up 13 with 1:15 to play in the half.

“I don’t really know what went wrong,” said Lou Vircillo, Lacey head football coach, “They have a fine defense and used good movement.”

A motivated team appeared out of halftime as sophomore Dillion Popper returned the kickoff to the Lacey 46 yard line. Boos and senior wideout Joe Detroia hooked up for a 31 yard catch and junior Kyle Spatz broke a 20-yard rush into the end zone for a score, making the game 13-7.

Lacey recovered a fumble on the Brick 30 on the ensuing kickoff, in what looked to be a perfect position to tie the game. The Lions were faced with 4^th and 12 from the 32 as Boos scampered to the right, taken down six yards shy of the first down marker.

“Some of our young guys spoke up at halftime and made some adjustments that worked in our favor in the second half. We run a complex offense, certain things are not easy for these young kids to pick up,” said Vircillo.

Spatz rushed for 101 yards in the second half on 14 carries. The Lacey defense forced a three-and-out following their score, and after Spatz ripped off a 47 yard rush, it once again looked like they were posed to score. However, Liem Dolly’s 31-yard field goal sailed wide, and Lacey would come up empty.

With 4:07 left, Brick kicked an 18-yard field goal, making it a two score game. Lacey was unable to produce a first down on their next drive though, and Brick managed to run out the clock on the Lions.

There were a number of bright spots in the second half for the Lions. Spatz became the go-to-guy on offense, the Lions even played around with an option flexbone formation for a while. The defense held Brick to just a field goal, and the Lions out scored Brick 7-3.

“We had our chances,” said Vircillo, “And we didn’t make the most of them. We have had years where we go undefeated and years when we have struggled. Thankfully the good years outnumber the bad. We are just going to have to find a way; I know we have a lot of capable kids on the team.”

Lacey will hit the road next Friday and travel to Pinelands for their first road game of the year.