Led by a potent offense built in the trenches and a resiliency & discipline taught only through the team’s collective experience, the Mountain Lakes Herd football team has absolutely sprinted out of the gate, ripping off three straight wins to start the season against Hanover Park, Madison, and Mahwah. If these first three weeks are any indication, the Herd is easily set up to dominate their opponents the rest of the season.
Game 1: Mountain Lakes vs. Hanover Park – W (41 – 20)
On the Herd’s first offensive play from scrimmage, senior fullback Wesley Dunn took a pitch straight to the end zone, setting the tone for this statement blowout of the Hanover Park Hornets. The Herd jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Dunn continued to run all over the Hornets’ defense to the tune of 278 yards and three touchdowns, as the Herd’s bruising offensive line rendered the Hanover front seven almost irrelevant, despite the loss of lineman Declan Ambrosiani to injury. Not to be forgotten, the Mountain Lakes passing game also joined in on the fun, as senior quarterback T.J. Lesko tossed two touchdowns to wideouts John DeFazio (Sr.) and Griffen O’Shaughnessy (Jr.). Junior halfback Jack Buzby also ran in a score from 44 yards out in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for the Herdsmen.
Game 2: Mountain Lakes vs. Madison – W (27-21)
Unlike the Hanover Park game the week before, the Herdsmen were forced to play a big chunk of the game trailing from behind, as the Madison Dodgers were able to build a 14-0 lead into the halftime break. On the first drive of the second half, Dunn kicked off the comeback with TD run, although it was matched by a Madison TD run five minutes later to push the score to 21-7. Another Dunn touchdown run, along with a defensive stand by the Herd, paved the way for Lesko to uncork a 45-yard touchdown pass to DeFazio to tie the game up at 21 apiece. Consecutive punts by Madison and Mountain Lakes kept the score tied, until big plays from Buzby and DeFazio set up a goal-line TD score from Dunn to put the Lakers ahead 27-21 with less than 10 seconds left. Dunn continued his hot streak, with another game over 200 yards and three scores, while DeFazio caught three receptions for over 100 yards and a score.
Game 3: Mountain Lakes at Mahwah – W (35-32)
Trying to avenge a crushing one-point double overtime loss last year at the hands of the Thunderbirds, Mountain Lakes looked to their quarterback to power their offense this year, as the Mahwah defense stacked the box and interior defense to stop the Herd’s potent run game and prevent Dunn from his third consecutive 200-yard rushing. Quarterback Lesko more than picked up the slack though, as he was ridiculously efficient and productive, completing 11 of 13 passes for 310 yards and an astounding four touchdown passes, three of them to star receiver DeFazio and the other to sophomore stud, Ryan McLaughlin. After a Dunn goal-line fumble gave the ball back to Mahwah and pushed the score to 24-21 Mahwah, Lesko put the game in his hands, throwing for touchdowns on consecutive drives to give the Herd a lead they would never let up.
Next up, the Herd hosts Pequannock (1-2) on September 27th, faces Kinnelon (1-2) on October 4th, and travels to Parsippany (2-1) on October 11th. See you there, Laker Nation!
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