Lancaster cruises past Jerome

LANCASTER — For the second consecutive week, Lancaster's defense was dominating.

The Golden Gales didn't allow visiting Dublin Jerome any room to navigate its offense as Lancaster cruised to a 33-0 nonconference win Friday at Fulton Field.

In Week 1, Lancaster stifled DeSales, limiting the Stallions to only 149 total yards in a 13-3 win. On Friday, the Gales gave up only 76 total yards and 29 yards rushing on 26 attempts.

"It's all about perpetration and I really think our scout team has been stepping up and giving us good looks, which is a huge key," Lancaster senior Dillon Denault said. "It's a great feeling no matter what our offense does, our defense will be able to go out anywhere on the field and be able to hold the other team and get the ball back.

"Getting to the ball is a really big thing for our defense and we always have three or four guys around the ball, and that's something the coaches drill into our heads."

Lancaster's defense forced four turnovers, recovering three of the four fumbles it forced, and the Gales also intercepted a pass.

"A shutout is pretty good, and outstanding defense for us two weeks in a row," Lancaster coach Rob Carpenter said. "It was great team defense and our coaches are doing a great job preparing these kids. Their quarterback looked like a big threat on film, but we got some nice shots on him early and that really slowed him down.

"It's a nice feeling from a standpoint of looking out on the field and really see your defense shutting people down. We outhit them and we were very physical, and in these conditions, it was our kind of game."

Lancaster built a 20-0 halftime lead thanks to a 46-yard punt return from senior Ashton Walker, who looked as if he was pinned in, but was burst through a tackle.

The Gales drove the ball to the Celtics' 9-yard line, but was unable to pick up a first down, and after Lancaster's defense forced a 3-and-out, Walker returned the punt for a score.

Sophomore Shea Goss, who had a 56-yard run in the first quarter, gave the Gales a 14-0 lead when he scored on a 2-yard run with 10:13 left in the first half.

The Gales got the ball back with 2:44 left in the half and promptly drove 42 yards for another score. This time, junior quarterback Noah Dryden completely faked the Dublin Jerome defense out as he went in untouched on a bootleg for a 10-yard touchdown run to push the Gales' lead to 20-0.

Lancaster opened the second half with an impressive nine-play, 72-yard scoring drive. Drew Smith carried the ball six times and capped the drive off with a 1-yard run with 8:03 left in the third quarter.

After Smith intercepted a pass, giving Lancaster the ball at the Celtics' 44-yard line, it took the Gales only four plays to reach the end zone. Senior Fullback Ryan Fitchpatrick, who had a 34-yard run during the drive, scored on a six-yard touchdown run with 6:50 left in the third quarter, which prompted a running clock the rest of the way.

Lancaster's offense piled up 338 yards rushing on 47 attempts.

Goss led the way with 112 yards on nine carries, Fitchpatrick had 102 yard on 16 carries and Smith added 84 yards on 10 carries.

Welcome Home

Lancaster junior Ryan Hendricks received a huge surprise when his brother, Tyler Hendricks, surprised him right before the game.

Tyler, a 2014 Lancaster graduate, just got back from an Air Force base in Texas where he spent the past seven months in basic training. Ryan had no idea his brother was returning home, but the two were able to hug right after the National Anthem was played.

twilson@lancastereaglegazette.com

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Twitter: @twil2323