LOCKPORT — Lockport’s grueling 2010 football slate gets turned up a notch this week with the defending state-champion and division rival North Tonawanda Lumberjacks coming to town.

Saturday’s 33-20 victory over Starpoint in their 2010 non-league opener was a sweet one for head coach Greg Bronson’s Lions, but their remaining six league games are all big ones. The visiting Blue Devils knocked off the Jacks, 30-22, last week, in a Class AA divisional opener, setting the stage for an early-season “must win” for head coach Eric Jantzi’s Jacks (0-1 AA North) when they tackle the Lions (1-0 overall, 0-0 AA North) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Max D. Lederer Field. Consecutive division losses would be almost fatal this year in a AA North Division bolstered by the addition of Buffalo city schools Riverside and Hutch Tech.

“By no means are we going to overlook them or treat them any other way than the way they deserve to be treated. They’re the state champions until they lose in the playoffs,” said Bronson, who scouted Friday night’s NT/KW game in the stands at the North Tonawanda High School Sports Complex.

“They are still absolutely a formidable opponent. They turned the ball over to Ken West more than what they’re used to doing, so I’m sure they’ll work a lot on that,” Bronson said.

“I think this week’s game will be decided on the line and we got a strong game against Starpoint from our line, but we need to match up against the state champions here — regardless of what happened last week,” Bronson said.

“Joe Montesanti was playing quarterback for the first time and he’s a tremendous runner and athlete, but running and reading that option and executing the offense doesn’t replace the two-or-three years of experience that they’ve had in the past. But he’ll get better. He’s that type of athlete. When he straightens out the execution of that option, that offense will become better — and NT always gets better as the season progresses. This game will probably be decided on the line and by big plays, especially turnovers. The team that avoids turnovers will give themselves a better opportunity to come out on top.”

There’s optimism in every phase of the Lions game, heading to this week’s game.

At Starpoint, Lions running backs all had a big day. Besides 181 yards and three TDs from senior Dorian Polk, sophomore Mitchell Evans ran 13 times for 83 yards and a touchdown, senior Javeon Tomlinson ran eight times for 32 yards and the big bruiser senior Tom DiCarlo plowed for 27 yards on three carries.

That translated to a big game last Saturday by the LHS offensive line, which features seniors Cedric Peterson at left tackle, Tyler Hillman at left guard, Newfane-transfer student Pat Granchelli at center and Eric Vasko at right guard, along with super (6-feet, 5-inches, 250 pounds) sophomore Khari Demos at right tackle.

“In weather like that (windy and wet), it was real important to establish our running game against Starpoint,” Bronson said.

“It was difficult to throw the ball because the wind was blowing 45 miles per hour. We threw the ball just three times, but we probably didn’t need to. When you have the ability to keep the ball on the ground, that minimizes opportunities to make mistakes and turn the ball over.

“Our offensive line was a concern before the season. We lost a potential three-year starter and our starting center had knee surgery. What we thought would be a strength was suddenly an area of concern,” Bronson said.

“We were lucky to get Pat over from Newfane, with his previous experience. We moved Cedric to left tackle from our defensive line and he was willing to try it and we’re glad that he did. Cedric was one of our more aggressive linemen in Saturday’s game. We saw him blocking guys 20 yards down field. We knew he was athletic and aggressive, but we didn’t know he’d play like that in his first start on the offensive line.

“Everyone who got an opportunity stepped up and performed beyond our expectations,” Bronson said.

“Khari was up with us in the last half of last year and also did a nice job Saturday in his first varsity start.”

Defensively, the Lions were led up front by DiCarlo, who can bench press 320 pounds. Starpoint coach Al Cavagnaro and other Spartans assistant coaches gave high praises for DiCarlo’s play on the D-line.

“Tom’s extremely strong with a very low center of gravity. He’s fast, quick and he’s tough to handle. He gets off the ball hard,” Bronson said.

“Our transfer from Lyndonville, Ben DaLaudiere (team best 17 tackles against Starpoint) played junior varsity as a 9th grader at Webster Thomas. Then the last two years, he went to school in Lyndonville, where there is no team, so he did not play. He wasn’t even scheduled to start Saturday, but someone was late and had to sit out the beginning of the game. After that, it was hard to take Ben out because he was making a lot of tackles down the line of scrimmage. He pursued the ball relentlessly and picked up a lot of tackles because he never slowed down, regardless of the direction.”

Also a big plus for LHS was the play of sophomore Kyle Few, who can kick a football a country mile. Few booted three extra points and hampered the Spartans by driving kicks to the end zone throughout the game.

“We lost a game last year to Niagara Falls when they ran back a kickoff for a touchdown. We’d cut the lead to 14-7, then they came right back and returned a kick for a touchdown. We scored one more time, but we couldn’t get the other one that we needed,” Bronson said.

“When your kicker can put the ball in or near the endzone consistently, that takes away an important dimension of the other team’s game, particularly when you’ve got guys who are difficult to tackle in the open field. Kenmore West, Niagara Falls and the Buffalo schools all have these types of players. Tremendous kick returners are all over our league, so if you can Kick it off into the endzone, that just takes away one more opportunity for the other team’s playmakers to make a potential game-changing play.”

After NT, Lockport hits the road for a game at 2 p.m. on Sept. 18 at Ken West.

Section VI Non-League Football Opener

Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010

Shirley Tudor Stadium, Pendleton

Lockport 33, Starpoint 20

Lockport    7    13    13    0    —    33

Starpoint    6    0    0    14    —    20

First Quarter

LHS — Dorian Polk 74-yard run. Kyle Few kick. 8:03

Star — Tyler Robinson 73-yard run. Run failed. 6:24

Second Quarter

LHS — Mitchell Evans 19-yard run. Run failed. 6:51

LHS — Polk 1-yard run. Few kick. :17.1

Third Quarter

LHS — Javeon Tomlinson 10-yard run. Kick failed. 7:55

LHS — Polk 28-yard run. Few kick. 2:48

Fourth Quarter

Star — Brent Thurston 8-yard pass from Brandon Wehrmeyer. Wehrmeyer run. 7:32

Star — Cory Regnet 9-yard run. Pass failed. 1:44.



TEAM STATS

    LHS        STAR

First Downs    13        8

Rush Attempts    48        36

Rushing Yards    338        199

Pass Attpts    3        17

Pass Compl    0        8

Interceptions    0        1

Compl Perc    0%        47.1%

Pass Yards    0        44

Fumbles Lost    1        1

Punts    2        5

Punt Yards    41        143

Punt Ave.    20.5        28.6

Kick Offs    6        4

Kick Off Yards    267        88

Kick Off Ave    44.5        22.0

Penalties    5        5

Yards Penalized    35        35

Total Offense    338        243



Rushing

Lockport — Polk 16-181, Evans 13-83, Tomlinson 8-32, DiCarlo 3-27, Bronson 4-10, Renford 3-9, Radosky 1-(-4); Starpoint — Robinson 20-156, Regnet 4-22, Wehrmeyer 5-10, Kopp 2-9, Kenny 2-6.

Passing

Lockport — Bronson 0-3-0; Starpoint — Wehrmeyer 7-14-43.

Touchdowns

Lockport — Polk (3), Evans, Tomlinson; Starpoint — Robinson, Thurston, Regnet.

Points

Lockport — Polk 18, Evans 6, Tomlinson 6, Few 3; Starpoint — Robinson 6, Thurston 6, Regnet 6, Wehrmeyer 2.

Tackles

Lockport — DaLaudiere 17, Renford 13, DePriest 8, DiCarlo 8, Norwood 8, KDavis 5, TDavis 4, Tomlinson 4, Peterson 3, Herman 2, Nole 2, Polk 2, Frasier, Glaser, Graziano, Johnson.