Tomcats fall into early 21-0 hole, can't catch Lancers

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ROSELLE - While East Aurora suffered a lopsided loss at Lake Park Friday night, the Tomcats never quit.

Less than 14 minutes into the Upstate Eight Conference contest, the Tomcats trailed 21-0. Still, they kept playing. The played hard until the final whistle when the scoreboard showed 49 points for the Lancers and 12 for the visitors.

"Our kids never quit. We get down a lot and we've lost a lot of games, but our kids don't quit. That's the key to their character, and that's going to help them in their lives as they progress into adults," East coach Bill Bryant said. Despite slipping to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the UEC, the Tomcats are making progress. East picked up eight first downs and surrendered nine to Lake Park (3-5, 3-3). They committed just one penalty. Four of the seven Lancers scores were on plays of more than 50 yards.

"You've got to go out there and give it your all; you've got to go hard every play," said senior captain Rashante Zackery, who recovered a fumble. "There's going to be times when the team breaks down, but you've got to give it your all, keep going and never give up."

Defensive lineman Charlie Perrecone intercepted a Tomcats pass on their first play from scrimmage and returned it to the East 4-yard line. Two plays later Kevin Thomas banged into the end zone from 1 yard out. Peter Demars added the first of his seven PAT's at the 11:08 mark and the Lancers began the rout. After a Tomcats punt, Chris Jasinski went 52 yards on the next play and the Lancers led 14-0 with 6:25 to play in the opening quarter. East was forced to punt on the ensuing possession, but the Tomcats defense made a stand and stopped the Lancers on consecutive plays with 1 yard to go for the first down. East's next possession resulted in three plays and a punt, and it was the punt coverage that hurt.

Kyle Steiger caught Jacob Arreola's 43 yard punt at his own 27, made a couple moves to his right and sprinted up the right sideline for a 73-yard touchdown and a 21-0 advantage less than two minutes into the second quarter.

Aided by a roughing the kicker penalty, the Tomcats traversed 63 yards for their first score. Richard Jimenez connected with Daimysei Jasper for a 42-yard gain after the penalty and gained a first down on a 4th-and-3 before Michael Turner went wide left and reached the end zone from six yards away. The PAT was blocked, but the Tomcats were on the board with 4:22 to play in the half.

East appeared to gain some momentum after Zackery sacked Larry Nawrot for a 10-yard loss, but Nawrot rolled to his right on the next play, bought some time and found Steiger for a 55-yard touchdown with 2:25 remaining to the intermission.

The Lancers added three touchdowns in the second half for a 49-6 advantage, but the Tomcats managed a score late in the fourth quarter. James Jones (2-of-4, 57 yards) tossed a perfect ball down the left sideline for Arreola, who dove for the ball at the goal line. Arreola held on long enough for the 30-yard touchdown.

"I was surprised I was able to get my hands underneath it," Arreola said. "I've got to give props to the (offensive line) for giving (Jones) that much time. It was a nice ball, perfect spiral, perfect place on my outside shoulder."