Spotswood earns key win over Dayton in turnaround season
SPOTSWOOD – It’s never a good thing when a team loses its quarterback near midseason, especially for a low enrollment school like Spotswood.
The Chargers, though, have seamlessly shifted receiver Trey Lazar – who played some QB last season – under center after Evan Baureko broke his collarbone three weeks ago.
“He just came in and just did his job,” Spotswood coach Chris Meagher said, “doing what we’re asking of him.”
Saturday, Lazar and company gained a key 25-7 win over Dayton to improve to 5-2. The junior Lazar engineered the offense with several short passes and some key runs and Anthony Christian rushed for 155 yards on 18 carries and a 13-yard TD run.
Spotswood took a 14-7 lead into halftime and its defense did the rest in the second half.
Lazar scored on runs of 11 and 1 yards, had a 2-point conversion run and went 8-of-11 for 104 passing yards. He added 46 rushing yards on 13 carries. Additionally, his 55-yard punt return early in the fourth quarter set up Spotswood’s final score.
John Lubin kicked a 23-yard field goal and two extra points in the win.
What does it mean
Spotswood likely clinched at least a .500 record, quite a turnaround after going 1-8 last season. The Chargers, which finish the regular season with two games on the road against A.L. Johnson and J.P. Stevens, last had a winning year in 2016.
Dayton (3-3) showed some good things as Lujuan Quinones threw a 51-yard TD pass downfield to Zaakir Youmans to tie the game 7-7 early in the second quarter.
Key plays
Credit the Spotswood defense for coming up big. For one, Dayton had an opening drive that lasted seven minutes, which resulted in a missed 28-yard field goal.
In the second quarter with Spotswood up 14-7, Dayton had the ball on its 40-yard line. Patrick Petscavage and Christian combined on a sack that pushed the Bulldogs back nine yards. Spotswood’s Ahsir Barnes intercepted a pass two plays later off a Dayton deflection.
Dayton attempted to rally in the fourth quarter and picked up a gain on a long pass to Spotswood’s 22-yard line. Enter the Chargers defense once again. Petscavage broke through for a sack for negative seven yards and Spotswood regained possession on downs.
Game balls
While Spotswood’s skilled-position players and defense certainly did well, the offensive line should get credit in the methodical win. The Chargers ate the clock down the stretch with runs by Christian, who slid a couple times to stay in bounds. Petscavage, Mahad El-Amin, Matthew Varga, Connor Manacle, Matthew Savarese and tight end Steven Mastrolonardo excelled in the trenches.
They said it
Lazar on the team’s offense success, “It starts with our offensive line. When they pushed the ball forward, we move the ball forward. It takes all 11 of us to move the ball.”
Lazar on not minding moving from QB to receiver to begin the year, “No, not at all. Whatever I can do to help.”
Spotswood coach Chris Meagher on the Chargers stopping Dayton on its opening drive, “That was huge. They have a lot of good athletes over there and one of our mantas is make a team go down the field and drive, as opposed to give up the big play. They’re going on a five, six-minute drive, but you always have a chance as long as they’re not in the end zone and our kids really bought into that. … They moved the ball really, really well, but we made some adjustments and then started playing a little bit better.”
Meagher noted with Lazar stepping in at quarterback the offense changed some things. Baureko is more of a deep passer and a bruising runner, while Lazar is quick and excels with the short passes. “We were able to transition him to quarterback and he’s done a heck of a job leading the offense. … We had to adapt a little bit but he’s done a really good job for us.”
What’s next
Spotswood travels to A.L. Johnson on Friday and Dayton goes to South Hunterdon.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Big Central Football Conference NJ: Spotswood wins over Dayton
