Rutland Runs Over the Lions

The Spartan offense was only on the field for twelve plays in the 1st half, but led 28-20 thanks in large part to a Lockport fumble inside their own 20 and two big touchdowns from Senior Terry Rutland. Rutland led Class A North Starpoint to a 48-28 win over their cross-town rival Lockport Lions from Class AA North.

The Lockport offense came out Friday night up-tempo and had the Starpoint defense on their heels. After losing the fumble on the first drive of the game, the Lockport offense drove down the field and scored to bring themselves within one point.

However, on the ensuing kickoff the Terry Rutland show began as he returned the kick 71 yards for the score. When the Spartans offense took the field, once again they gave the ball to Rutland who took it 44 yards on the first play.

Rutland had 121 yards on 19 carries and 2 touchdowns as well as a special teams score.

Rutland believes he’s a just a small part of the puzzle, saying after the game, “Honestly, I have one job. My team, my coaches set everything and I just follow my block”.

His Head Coach, Al Cavagnaro, said he’s the key for the Spartans, “He’s a spark plug, he’s the guy who gets the team going whether it’s a hit or a run. He finally had a breakout game this season” says Cavagnaro.

The Lockport offense had success against the Spartan defense, not only in the passing game, but the O-line played a strong game allowing the Lion backs to run up the middle. Xavier Barber took the ball in from one yard out and QB Luke Hausrath found Tavon Chambers for a 23 yard score on another.

Barber ran the ball 20 times for 99 yards on the night. Shota Sprunger had 57 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Hausrath threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

In the 2nd half the Starpoint offense looked like the ground and pound offense fans are used to seeing as the Spartans drove down the field just handing the ball off to Anthony Robinson, Tajay Ahmed and Rutland. The Lockport defense had no answer for the ground and pound style and began to get worn down.

Ahmed ran the ball 16 times for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns. Robinson had 113 yards on 16 carries and one touchdown.

The Lions offense was still able to manufacture offense as they brought the game to within one score when Sprunger ran it from 4 yards out late in the 3rd quarter; the Lions’ final score of the game.

The Starpoint offense began to pull away with a 5-yard run by Robinson to give the Spartans the 41-28 lead. The defense responded by making two goal line stands in the 4th quarter.

Lockport Head Coach Matt Vermette believes that his team is improving, “We keep getting better… we had a better week of practice. We’re making minor corrections.”

However, he was not happy with the penalties that his team took. Many of them were costly as they took the offense out of scoring position. “Being smart and keeping their mouths shut… let their pads do the talking”. Lockport was penalized for personal fouls, unsportsmanlike conduct and even had a player ejected early in the game.

Starpoint Head Coach Al Cavagnaro said “Our kids just believe in our coaches… the kids came back in the 2nd half and played.”

With the win and the North Tonawanda loss on Friday night, Starpoint (3-0, 4-0) is now the number one seed in Class A North, as they welcome the Lumberjacks (3-1, 3-1) next week to Tudor Stadium on Friday night at 7pm. The Lions will head to Kenmore West (0-2, 1-3) to take on the Blue Devils in a Class AA North matchup on Saturday at 2pm.