Heading into the matchup between Grand Island and Lockport, those that expected fireworks would not have been wrong to have that expectation.
Both team’s offenses had scored in bunches over the first two weeks of the season to start 2-0. Grand Island came in averaging 36 points per game, while Lockport put up 31.
But that is not what happened Saturday.
The defenses became the biggest story of the contest and it allowed Grand Island to get a 12-0 win over Lockport Saturday at Lockport’s Max D. Lederer Stadium.
“I think we actually moved the ball really well,” Grand Island head coach Dean Santorio said. “We shot ourselves in the foot like three to four times inside the 20, which is a little uncharacteristic. But give them credit, they loaded the box up to stop the run. But we moved it pretty well for four quarters, just probably should have come up with a score or two. Defense, we were real happy with what we did.”
One of the turning points of the game came in the second quarter when Lockport went for it on fourth and 1 at midfield, but quarterback Scott Stowe was thrown down well behind the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs.
Grand Island took advantage of getting the ball on the plus side of the field, picking it up at the Lockport 45-yard-line. The Vikings then proceeded to drive down the field and score to go up 12-0.
“We have to do a better job with the play call there and just trying to get him to get the ball out quick, especially if it’s fourth down to at least take a shot and give our receivers a chance to get the ball,” Lockport head coach Brandon Bratek said.
Despite only scoring 12 points, the Vikings rushing attack had success, putting together 161 yards. The vast majority of those came from quarterback Anthony Mantione, who had 29 carries for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
On the final drive of the game, Grand Island used up the final almost eight minutes of clock by running the ball. On the drive, Mantione carried the ball five times for 51 yards before the clock ran out and his team came away with the victory.
The runs were exactly what the senior had done all season long to that point with a mix of runs up the middle and to the edges. The signal caller now has 294 yards and five touchdowns on the ground this season.
The ground game was not the only area where Mantione had success as he also threw for 137 yards to five different targets including Jack Heider who had a team-leading 75 receiving yards. Mantione accounted for 286 of the team’s 298 yards of offense, good for 95% of the total yards.
Through three games, Mantione has accounted for 50% or more of his team’s total yards in all of his team’s games and 548 of the team’s 763 yards, good for 71%.
“(I) really just trust that my lineman were going to make the block to hit the hole, the way it’s supposed to, how the play was designed,” Mantione said. “We have some traps so some of the plays take a little bit longer to develop. So you need to trust in your offensive lineman and not just go and hit the gaps, give them time to develop. I feel like we did a good job on that and we ran the ball really well.”
Grand Island will look to improve to 4-0 when it goes to North Tonawanda at 7 p.m. Friday. Lockport will be attempting to bounce back when it hosts Lancaster at 2 p.m. Saturday.