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ANGOLA -- The Dunkirk Marauders face a lot of uncertainty heading into the 2021 football season. Led by a new coach, Mark Benton, with a lineup that features several sophomores and new players, all while dealing with early season COVID-19 issues left Benton wondering just how things were going to go given all the unusual circumstances.
"We had no preseason, a new coach, a new system, new kids playing new positions," Benton said. "It was our first game versus a team playing their second game, while on the road on a Saturday morning. These are things that just don't happen in Varsity football to an average team. But I thought we did a pretty nice job."
And a nice job they did. Despite making a few mistakes, the Marauders walked away with a 20-6 victory over the Lake Shore Eagles on Saturday morning from Lake Shore High School. Overall, though there were things that could have been fixed, Benton said he was just happy to get the win.
"We had a couple nice drives in the first half, we shot ourselves in the foot a few times with fumbles and penalties but overall, a win is a win so I'm very happy," Benton said.
The first drive of the game, Dunkirk's first drive of the season, ended with the best possible outcome. Junior running back Quanteer Neallard was the bell cow of Dunkirk's first possession, getting the ball five times for 48 yards just on the opening possession, which included one big 23-yard run. Benton said with the wind blowing how it was, he tried to keep the offense conservative and Neallard was the beneficiary of the carries.
"Quanteer ran the ball well," Benton said. "Sometimes we didn't get the holes for him, but early on everything was working for him. I did keep it conservative today because of the wind but we wanted to wear them down and we did that early."
One of Dunkirk's sophomores, Teddy Roberts, capped the opening drive with a touchdown run, giving Dunkirk the early 6-0 lead as they were unable to convert the two-point play. That touchdown wasn't the last time Roberts had an impact, both for better and for worse.
The Dunkirk defense, who were shut down all game, forced one of many punts from the Lake Shore offense. The Marauders looked to be moving again on the strength of Neallard, but the drive petered out as a botched snap derailed that drive as the second quarter ended with Dunkirk holding their 6-0 lead.
The second quarter began with the teams exchanging two punts aside, before Dunkirk got the ball back with just under four minutes to go on the clock, with excellent field position, starting at the Eagles' 32-yard line. The Marauders picked up a first down, before being faced with a third and eight from the 16, when Dunkirk quarterback Javier DeJesus found Roberts on a nifty swing pass into the flat that Roberts was able to run in for the touchdown. This time the Marauders were able to convert on the two-point play, extending their lead to 14-0.
It looked like the Marauders had another chance to score before the half when Lake Shore's Aiden Kazmarek fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which gave the Marauders the ball again at their own 49-yard line with 38 seconds left on the clock. However, a penalty derailed that threat, so Dunkirk walked into halftime with a 14-0 lead.
Lake Shore began the second half with the ball, when on the second play out of the half, Lake Shore quarterback Jaden Kennedy threw a pass that was intercepted by the Marauders, giving Dunkirk a free possession. Two plays later, the Marauders had gotten the ball all the way down to the four-yard line thanks to carries from Neallard and Roberts, but Roberts couldn't hang on to the ball on his carry, coughing it up and giving possession right back to the Eagles.
The Marauders forced a turnover on downs, when Roberts was once again given the ball twice and once again had it knocked out from him, cementing the up and down day for the exciting sophomore.
"Teddy had a little fumblitis today but he's a good sophomore," Benton said. "He's a big powerful kid. I expect big things from him, and he made some good plays defensively and ran the ball well, he just struggled to hang onto the ball."
The Marauder defense once again forced a punt, and as the third quarter crept into the fourth, the Marauders put together a long, sustained drive, where DeJesus, Roberts, and Neallard each shouldered the load, capped off with DeJesus scoring a touchdown from two yards out just over a minute into the fourth, extending the lead to 20-0.
The lone Lake Shore touchdown came on the next play from scrimmage, which was a powerful 50-yard touchdown run from Lake Shore's Andrew Hughson, who shrugged off several Marauder defenders on his way to the end zone. That and a trick play later on, which saw Kennedy hand off to Hughson, who lateralled to wide receiver Rob Gillette, who then threw a pass downfield to Drew Russel for a big gain represented the only big plays the Marauders gave up on the day.
"I don't know what their total offense was but it couldn't have been much at all," Benton said. "I was pleased because we didn't hit much in the pre-season because we're learning a new system and didn't want anyone to get hurt."
The game ended with the two teams exchanging possessions and no one scoring, as the contest settled into the 20-6 final. Overall, Benton said he was happy with the game, even though there were things to improve on.
"We could pick things apart but I'm happy with the win," Benton said. "It was 20-6 but we did leave some points on the board too."
The Marauders played with 24 players, but Benton said they'll get three more back next week while the team still deals with COVID-19 and other issues. On the day, Neallard led the Marauders with 22 carries for 156 yards on the ground, while Roberts had nine carries for 54 yards, two catches for 18 yards, a receiving and rushing touchdown each, and two fumbles. DeJesus ended the game with nine carries for 39 yards, while completing two of his eight pass attempts for 18 yards and a touchdown.
For the Eagles, Kennedy finished the game 5/12 for 54 yards and an interception, while rushing the ball five times for six yards. Hughson was Lake Shore's best offensive weapon, ending the game with five carries for 63 yards and a touchdown, headlined by that big 50-yard run.
Though they were able to get in the win column for their first game, the Marauders (1-0) now move into a gauntlet. Their next two games will be against Iroquois and Pioneer, two teams Benton knows will be tough.
"We have two mountains to climb in the next two weeks in Iroquois and Pioneer," Benton said. "Iroquois is already number one and Pioneer always brings it, they're always physical."
The Marauders will take on Iroquois at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 17 at Dunkirk High School. Lake Shore (0-1) will next play East Aurora/Holland on the same day at home, beginning at 6:30 p.m.