Sports

Spitzer Runs for 296 Yards as Lynbrook Football Tops Division

The Lynbrook QB had five total touchdowns for the defending Long Island champs.

Some football players can break a game open with long touchdown runs -- on Saturday, Luke Spitzer's game-breaking switch was set on overdrive.

Spitzer had touchdown runs of 75, 8, 71 and 95 yards and added a 50-yard passing touchdown for the Owls, as the defending Long Island champs moved to 3-0 in Conference III with a 42-21 victory over Division in their homecoming game.

"He's a very talented athlete and a very good quarterback," Lynbrook head coach Stephen LoCicero said of Spitzer. "He's a great leader, a great character kid. Big games bring out big players, and homecoming's a big day for him."

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After a three-and-out by Division (2-1) to open the game, Lynbrook needed three plays to take an early 7-0 lead, capped by a 50-yard touchdown pass from Spitzer to Rocco Scibelli. Spitzer’s first touchdown run came just two plays into Lynbrook’s next drive.

Division’s disciplined offensive scheme kept them in it in the first half. They got on the board in the second quarter after a nine-play drive was capped by a Joe Vanasco three-yard touchdown run.

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Lynbrook added another Spitzer touchdown run to make it 21-7, but Dylan Cardno capped a half-ending 11-play drive for Division with a QB sneak touchdown on fourth and goal, making the score 21-14 at the break.

Lynbrook took control in the second half, though. After each team’s first drive ended in a punt, Spitzer ran 71 yards into the end zone on the first play of Lynbrook’s next possession. A 12-play Division drive that followed ended in an interception by Lynbrook’s Joe Grossi, and Spitzer followed with a 95-yard run to put the game out of reach.

LoCicero's team was able to wear down Division because of their two-platoon system. The system enables them to use different personnel on offense and defense, keeping their players fresher than most high school teams.

"We have 72 kids on the roster," LoCicero said. "We normally play anywhere between 40 to 50 kids a game. Today, we played all 70. You're going to wear them down.”

The Owls ran for 370 total yards on the ground, 296 of which were contributed by Spitzer. Running back John Borgia added 60, while Scibelli added 30 (and contributed a touchdown on a punt return). On defense, Matt Trotta led the Owls with 12 tackles, while Dustin Maskuli had seven.

With the win, Lynbrook continued on its path towards another undefeated season. The Owls' goal is to repeat as Long Island champions, but LoCicero cautioned that it wasn’t going to be easy.

“This journey for this team is different than last year,” he said. “Where their journey takes them, we don’t know. They’re working really hard for that though.

"They’re really close-knit and coming together as a team," he added. "Once you do that, we think everything else takes care of itself.”

Box Score:

Team

      1

   2

   3

   4

    T

Division

      0

  14

   0

   7

   21

Lynbrook

     14

   7

  14

   7

   42

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter

LYN - Spitzer 50 yd pass to Scibelli – 7-0 LYN

LYN – Spitzer 75 yd run – 14-0 LYN

2nd Quarter

DIV – Vanasco 3 yd run – 14-7 LYN

LYN – Spitzer 8 yd run – 21-7 LYN

DIV – Cardno 1 yd run – 21-14 LYN

3rd Quarter

LYN – Spitzer 71 yd run – 28-14 LYN

LYN – Spitzer 95 yd run – 35-14 LYN

4th Quarter

LYN – Scibelli 65 yd punt return – 42-14 LYN

DIV – Viola 1 yd run – 42-21 LYN


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