Losing almost its entire starting lineup on both sides of the ball from last year’s 11-1 sectional championship squad, Lyndhurst has gone back to the fountain of youth in 2020, starting predominantly sophomores.
And while Rich Tuero’s squad struggled in its first three games against a tough schedule, the first building block was laid for their next move up the New Jersey Interscholastic Conference ladder.
A back and forth game that saw its share of big plays, it was a defensive late stop that propelled the Bears to a 33-26 victory over Manchester Regional on Saturday afternoon in Haledon. Lyndhurst is now 1-3 on the campaign, while Manchester – who dressed only 22 players – dropped to 0-4 despite an impressive showing.
“We have a younger team and that’s not an excuse whatsoever. I tell them that faces change, but expectations do not. Learning how to win and finish games is part of that building process, and our focus is to get better week to week,” said Tuero.
Ironically, it was special teams that put Lyndhurst ahead, and nearly cost them dearly at the end.
Deadlocked at 20-20 at the half, the Golden Bears completely changed the game’s momentum when Brendan Pollio recovered an onside kick to give Lyndhurst the ball on the Manchester 36. Four plays later, sophomore quarterback John Lembo found Anthony DeMarco from 10 yards out to move the winners ahead, 26-20.
A dual threat, Lembo finished 5-for-8 for 70 yards, with two scores and an interception in the air, while also running for 122 yards on 10 carries with his legs.
“I’m happy we got that win today,” Lembo, “A lot of us are sophomores, we are younger, yeah, but we still expect to win. It’s always good to get that first one.”
On the ensuing drive, Manchester would drive down to the Lyndhurst 16, but the Falcons drive abruptly ended in the endzone when Lyndhurst’s Dwayne Tucker recovered a fumble. Lyndhurst would capitalize, as a nine play, 83-yard drive was capped off by a dash from 10 yards out by Rick Rainey to move the lead to 33-20.
Manchester quarterback Sammy Viera – playing the position for the first time this week – was a constant thorn in Lyndhurst’s side all day. His scamper from 20 yards away pulled the home team to within 33-26 with 2:02 to play.
Viera had himself a huge day, rushing for 123 yards on 23 carries – many big hitters coming on broken plays – while also going 3-for-3 for 23 yards in the air.
“We just moved him there five days ago, and he did an outstanding job,” said Manchester coach Rande Roca. “Unfortunately, we came up short, but we look at this shortenened season as a continuation into next year. We only have two seniors; this entire team will be back. We’re on the right path.”
Remarkably, Manchester’s Xander Colon would recover Oscar Garcia’s well-hit onside kick to set the Falcons up for a potential go ahead scoring drive. But after advancing all the way to the Lyndhurst 11, the drive would be marred by penalties and would ultimately end without points, sealing the victory for Lyndhurst.
Lyndhurst got off to a quick start in the first quarter, as Lembo hit Justin Mayewski from 15 yards out to start the scoring. But Manchester’s Nekhiycie Jackson found paydirt on an explosive 39-yard run on the ensuing drive to level things up.
Following an interception by Sam Crespo, the Falcons would take the lead when Viera found the end zone on an end-around play from 24 yards out, moving the lead to 7-6.
A pair of Lyndhurst scores were answered on the last play of the half, when Viera found Crespo from 13 yards out for a touchdown. Viera would run in the two-point try to tie things up at the break.
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October 25, 2020 at 06:55AM
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Young Lyndhurst team lays down first building block - nj.com
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