La Salle head coach Antoine Peterson stood at the 50-yard line with a dazed look on his face after his team blew a 21-point lead in what could have been the Lancers first win since the 2009 season.
A late fourth quarter touchdown lifted Village Christian over La Salle, 26-21, in the 2011 season opener for both teams on Friday night in front of packed Lancer crowd.
“We folded, we didn’t finish the ballgame,” said Peterson about his team, which went 0-10 a year ago. “We didn’t play four quarters and we didn’t sustain drives after we build a lead.”
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La Salle went into the locker room up 14-0, but could have had a bigger advantage. The Lancers had two touchdowns called back in the first half due to penalties.
“The penalties were unbelievable, I’ve never seen such sloppy play,” Peterson said. “We need to clean it up if not that’s going to get us beat every time.”
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However, after halftime it seemed the Lancers wouldn’t need the two negated touchdowns. Lineman Matt Barrerro returned a fumble 90 yards to put La Salle ahead 21-0 advantage halfway through the third quarter.
The Crusaders, who also defeated La Salle in last year’s season opener, started their rally behind wide receiver Tyler McGinnis. With two minutes left in the third quarter, McGinnis caught 24-yard touchdown to score Village Christian’s first points.
After a quick drive by La Salle, McGinnis scored his second touchdown of the night on a 33-yard pass to cut the deficit to 21-14 with 11:41 left in the game.
La Salle tried to respond but fumbled deep in Village Christian’s territory. The Crusaders marched down the field to score their third unanswered touchdown, but this time they decided to go for the two point conversion. Village Christian was unsuccessful on the two-point play, giving the Lancer faithful hopes of a rare victory.
Unfortunately the Lancers continued shooting themselves on the foot as they fumbled to give the Crusaders the ball on the 16-yard line, which paved the way for their game-winning touchdown.
After the heart-breaking loss, Peterson saw some positives.
“It’s a journey, we started out well and didn’t finish,” Peterson said. “We aren’t looking good in the win column but we still have nine more games to play. Our defense was lights out, but our offense tired out.”
Most of the positives came in the first half for the Lancers.
After a Village Christian three and out, the Lancers started on their own 48-yard line and marched down the field to score their first points of the season. At the 3:43 mark of the first quarter, junior running back Kyle Lewis found the end zone on a 1-yard run to give La Salle the early 7-0 lead.
Two plays later, Lancer Terrell Oliver picked off the Crusader quarterback to give the La Salle the ball back on the Village Christian 43-yard line.
La Salle’s second touchdown of the night was scored by running back Isreal Lacy in the second quarter.
Team Qtr. 1 Qtr. 2 Qtr. 3 Qtr. 4 Total Village Christian 0 0 7 19 26 La Salle 7 7 7 0 21
1st quarter
LS -- Lewis 1 yard run (Albright kick)
2nd Quarter
LS -- Lacy 7 yard run (Albright Kick)
3rd Quarter
LS -- Barrero fumble return 90 yards (Albright kick) VC -- Tyler McGinnis 24 yard catch (kick good)
4th Quarter
VC -- Tyler McGinnis 33 yard catch (kick good)
VC -- Village Christian 16 yard touchdown throw (two-point conversion failed)
VC -- Village Christian 4 yard touchdown run (two-point conversion failed)
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