Lancers get playing time for reserves as they shoot for league title
Avalon High’s football team has approached this season with a methodical plan. The Lancers have been building a foundation over the past couple of years and this year looked like it had potential for big things.
The Lancers scheduled a tough pre-season schedule to test themselves early. After some highs and lows, the Lancers entered league play feeling ready to challenge for the Express League title. They opened up league play with a 3-0 record and on Saturday they used a big second half to roll past St. Michael’s Prep, 54-16, to stay unbeaten in league play. Despite some bumps in the road, the Lancers are pleased with their season.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” captain Adalberto Martinez said.
St. Michael’s didn’t have enough to stay with the Lancers for a whole game, so Lancer coach Michael Forcella saw an opportunity to give his reserves some valuable playing time. With playoffs also on the horizon, Forcella used mostly reserves in the first half to get some extra experience.
“Today we were trying to measure quite a few things … we definitely highlighted quite a few things that we need to work on, there’s been a lot of improvement throughout so we just need to keep working on those items,” Forcella said.
St. Michael’s led 16-8 late in the second quarter, but after a failed onside kick, the Lancers started taking control. Antonio Ramos found Jose Silva for a 22-yard touchdown pass on the first play and Ramos ran in the point after to tie the game at 16-16.
On the ensuing possession, St. Michael’s was able to connect for a big pass play, but Juan Hernandez stripped the ball at the end of the run. A big pass play from Ramos to Adalberto Martinez and a run by Ramos got the Lancers to 11 yard line. After a holding penalty, Ramos hit Martinez in the end zone on the final play of the half as the Lancers took a 24-16 lead at halftime.
The second half was all Avalon. Ramos found Martinez for two more touchdowns, one on a short pass where Martinez broke a couple of tackles and sprinted 73 yards for the score. A fumble recovery by Gustavo Hernandez led to a 45-yard touchdown run by DeAngelo Reyes that gave the Lancers a 40-16 lead.
Reyes also caught a touchdown pass from Ramos for the final score. Ramos finished with 290 passing yards and six touchdowns. Martinez had 225 receiving yards and four touchdowns. The Lancers added 184 rushing yards, led by Reyes who had 75.
The Lancers have one regular season game remaining, on the road at Sage Hill today at 2 p.m. Sage Hill took the league title last year at 6-0, after handing Avalon their only league loss, 18-14. The Lancers’ first goal was to take the league title this year, and the rematch with Sage Hill is the last hurdle toward that first step. Forcella said their regular season run has them focused for the league test.
“I think we definitely have the mentality, this veteran mentality,” Forcella said.
But Sage Hill has had a solid season of their own. The Lightning are 7-1 overall and, like the Lancers, are 4-0 in Express League play. The Lightning are ranked No. 6 in this week’s CIF-SS Division 1 eight-man poll, while the Lancers are ranked No. 7.
Forcella said his team would work on a few things this week, but he likes their chances of success against Sage Hill and in the playoffs.
“There’s key weaknesses that we know we have to work on, but our strengths, we’ve yet to really find a team that can match them,” Forcella said.
One of those biggest strengths is Martinez, who is among the top receivers in the nation with 1,625 yards and 22 touchdowns. The Lancers use a corp of running backs to average more than 186 yards rushing per game. Ramos leads the crew with 621 yards and six touchdowns. Reyes and Silva each have five rushing touchdowns this season.
