Smothering defense and a lack of fumbles defined the Lancers’ victory over the SM West Vikings. The Lancers kept the Vikings scoreless and executed with few mistakes on offense to secure a 27-0 win, putting their season record at 7-1.
Despite beginning the game with a turnover on a punt return, the Lancers began quickly with a commanding defensive stop. Senior quarterback Christian Blessen connected a 25 yard pass to junior Alec Dean to create a 6-0 Lancer lead.
The SM West squad began their second offensive drive with a dominant attitude. Senior quarterback AJ Verdini, who leads the Sunflower League in passing yards, marched his team to the East five yard line.
Unable to score, West attempted a field goal. The kick was batted down and scooped up by senior Ryan Carter. Carter sprinted for 80 yards and put senior Luke Taylor in position to score a second East touchdown.
This type of play dominated the rest of the half. Although Verdini and senior Justin Hobbs were able to move their offense within East’s red zone, the defense closed out and kept the squad scoreless.
East began the second half with a risky onside kick. The risk paid off, giving Blessen the ball inside West territory. Taylor was able to capitalize on the field position, leading a drive and scoring another touchdown to put the lead to 20-0.
The Lancers’ defense continued to shut down the acclaimed abilities of Verdini and Hobbs. Although the West offensive line is typically almost impenetrable, the East defensive line excelled at collapsing Verdini’s pocket. Although these plays rarely resulted in sacks, the team did not hold back on landing hard hits on Verdini.
After a quarterback keeper touchdown by Blessen brought the score to 27-0, the Lancer defense shut down the game with a suffocating defensive possession. Junior Kyle Ball finished off the West offense by throwing down Verdini for a sizeable loss. The Lancers gave junior Gunnar Englund the ball on the 17 yard line, where he ran one play and then took a knee to end the game.
The Lancers finished off the reigning state champions 27-0. This game put their record to 7-1.
Next week, the team plays SM North in their final game of the regular season. Can’t make it to the game? Catch all of the live action here.
![For the first time in 10 years, East will have an all-female Student Council Executive Board for the 2024-25 school year.
The board consists of future senior and president Ingrid Blacketer, future junior and vice president Paige Bean, future junior and secretary Claire Polanco and future junior and treasurer Fina Kessler.
“We see each other once a week every week,” Blacketer said. “We set up together, we volunteer together and we volunteered at the can drive together. So we’ve always been in the same room [and] we’ve known each other for over a year now.”
To read more, click the link in bio.
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