By Marion Valanoskie
COAL TOWNSHIP — Coming into Friday night’s nonconference game against Fleetwood, Lourdes Regional sophomore John Vanaskie — who also plays on the school’s soccer team — had back-to-back three-goal games. So when faced with the situation of going for the first down or kicking a field goal, Lourdes coach Mike Klembara decided to go for the three. But with a driving rain blowing into his face and no tee to use, the field goal was no sure thing.
Vanaskie never wavered and calmly booted a 22-yarder in the second quarter that proved to be the only points of the night as the Red Raiders (1-1) blanked the Tigers 3-0 at Leo A. Mulhall Stadium for their first win of the season.
“My first inclination was to go for the (first down), but when I saw the distance we decided to go for the field goal,” Klembara said. “Michael Bastian and Vanaskie have both been doing the kicking, and I asked who wanted to get it done, and the young sophomore didn’t hesitate.
“Our next problem was we couldn’t find the tee, so he kicked it off the wet turf. But it was a perfect snap, and the kick was right on the mark.”
The rest of the contest was played between the 20s, with each team having opportunities to reach paydirt, only to be thwarted by a penalty or fumble.
Fleetwood hurt itself several times with costly penalties and made the first big turnover. On its first possession, Fleetwood moved from its 44 to the Lourdes 31 behind the running of Drew Zebertavage. On first down, quarterback Robert Comer connected with James Davis on a long gain to the goal line, but the wideout was tackled from behind and fumbled the ball out of the end zone, giving the ball to Lourdes at the 20. Another drive ended with a Bastian interception, but the Lourdes offense couldn’t move the ball in the sloppy conditions.
The Red Raiders’ scoring drive came after a short Fleetwood punt to the Tigers’ 27. Bastian picked up 14 yards and Dylon Lawrence added six. Two plays later, Vanaskie made the kick that stood up for the rest of the contest.
“I can’t say enough about the play of our defense, the performance of our defensive line and the two linebackers Lawrence and (Patrick) Shinskie,” Klembara said. “The weather conditions probably hurt them more than us.”
“Lourdes played very good defense, but we had too many penalties and the rain curtailed what we could do,” Fleetwood coach Tom Wapinsky said. “On a dry night we could have easily taken advantage of their secondary.”
