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Schools

Spatz Carries Lions' to Road Win

Lacey defense shuts out Manchester Township over final three quarters.

In the Shore Conference Class B-South match-up between Lacey and Manchester Township, Friday night, Hawks' running back Joe Johnson was to be the game-changer and lead Manchester Township to victory.

Don't tell that to Kyle Spatz.

The junior tailback from Lacey had 31 carries for 198 yards, leading the Lions (2-2) to a thrilling 9-7 victory over their divisional foe.

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"We take pride in our running backs," Lacey head coach Lou Vircillo said, "Kyle had a few nice runs today and really helped us out."

The Lions took the lead with 9:40 remaining in the game on a 28-yard scamper by fullback Jake Timony. 

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Spatz kept the drive alive on two seperate third downs, coming up with enough yards on both plays to give Lacey this first down.

Spatz gained four yards on 3rd and four, moving the ball into the Hawks (2-2) territory, and three plays later, bursted to the outside for a 16-yard gain on another third and four, putting the Lions on Manchesters' 28-yard line.

Timony put Lacey on top with his 28-yard run on the next play, capping off the 86-yard drive.

The Lions' defense would come up big two more times, forcing the Hawks to go three-and-out with just over eight minutes left, and later four-and-out, clinching the victory with just over two minutes remaining.

"We made a couple of plays defensivley. I was real happy with our defense," Vircillo said.

Lacey came up with sacks on third and fourth down in the Hawks final possession, giving the ball back to their offense and allowing Spatz to seal the win.

A multitude of Lacey defenders sacked Manchester Township quarterback Tim Rogers on third down and Jordan Powell powered through the Hawks' offensive line on the next play, grabbing Rogers while laying on the ground, and forcing the turnover on downs.

The Lions' clinched the win after converting a 4th down and two, with quarterback Tom Kelly faking the hand-off to Spatz, and taking the run outside for a gain of three yards.

It was Kelly's only carry of the night.

After falling down 7-0 in the first quarter, the Lions answered in the second quarter. 

Lacey tallied their first first down of the game a two-and-a-half minutes into the second quarter. One play later, Spatz ripped off a 33-yard run to put Lacey deep into Manchester Township territory.

After failing to get into the endzone after three plays, the Lions were forced to settle for the 22-yard field go, which Ian O'Loughlin buried through the up-rights.

The Lions were threatening to open the second half, but Spatz fumbled the ball on the Hawks' 7-yard line following a 15-yard run.

Manchester Township would storm down the field -- due in large part by as 54-yard run from Johnson -- but the Lions' defense would stand tall, forcing a turnover on downs at their own 15-yard line.

Lacey's best offensive chance of the first half came early in the first quarter, when they recovered a ball at the Manchester Township 19-yard line on a punt after the ball grazed a Hawks' player on the way down.

Kelly would throw an interception in the endzone, ending the Lions' hopes of scoring.

Kelly was 0-4 passing on the day with an interception.

Timony had four carries for 46 yards, including the game-winning touchdown.

Brandon Boos had four carries and 13 yards for Lacey, as well.

"We're starting to have our youth getting caught up to our veterans," Vircillo said, "We feel like a lot of these teams are similar. We saw Manchester lose to Brick last week and we feel like those teams are similar."

The Lions' will host Barnegat, next Saturday, Oct. 8.

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