GEORGETOWN — The Lynn Tech football team took a 20-0 lead into halftime, but still had to fight until the very end to preserve a 34-25 win over the Georgetown Royals at Georgetown High on Friday night.
It seems like Tech coach James Runner kind of likes it that way.
“I think every team that’s vying for a championship needs to play a game like this one,” Runner said. “We got out big early, credit to Georgetown for fighting all the way back, then we had to finish. We made plenty of mistakes tonight, but I loved the fight of our guys tonight.”
The Tech offense was once again powered by the one-two running back punch of Steffan Gravely and Keoni Gaskin. Gravely, one of last week’s two Item Players of the Week, rushed for 227 yards and three touchdowns, while Gaskin rushed for 100 yards and one touchdown.
“They both ran until the wheels came off tonight,” Runner said of the duo.
But one of the biggest contributors to the win tonight was junior wide receiver/cornerback Elvin Gonzalez. In addition to his 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second half, Gonzalez had four pass breakups (almost intercepted one of them) and made multiple big play-saving tackles on the defensive side of the ball.
“He made some huge plays for us tonight,” said Runner. “He was one of the guys we looked to in the secondary with (senior captain) Marcus (Taylor) out, and he was a leader out there. Great job out of him.”
Things didn’t exactly start off great for the Tigers, as they fumbled away the game’s opening kickoff. But the defense held strong and forced a three-and-out, and the offense took over from there.
Gravely rushed for 64 of the 65 yards on the team’s first official drive, eventually scoring on a 15-yard run to make it 6-0. Gaskin added a five-yard touchdown run with about six minutes left in the first half, then Gravely closed the half with an 18-yard touchdown to make it 20-0.
Georgetown looked to steal momentum in the second half, as Anthony D’Amato took the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown. In any other game, the momentum would have totally shifted to the Royals. But then it was Gonzalez’s turn to return a kick, and he silenced the crowd with his 85-yard touchdown return.
Georgetown quarterback Tommy Long responded with a nine-yard touchdown, then about eight minutes later he threw a 90-yard touchdown to D’Amato to really make it a game at 27-18. Things got even more intense when the Royals forced Tech into a three-and-out, got the ball back, then scored on a 23-yard connection between Long and D’Amato, making it 27-25.
But then, with about five minutes left in the game, Tech iced the game. Gravely handled much of the load on the drive, including a 42-yard run, before he punched in a one-yard touchdown to make it 34-25.
The Royals gave it one more attempt, but lost the ball on downs. A few more Tech runs finished the win.
The Tigers (3-0) are now in the driver’s seat coming down the stretch. With their next two games against Minuteman Tech and KIPP, Tech’s looking to lock up the top seed for the playoffs.
“We’re just going to keep grinding out there,” Runner said. “We’ve still got plenty of work to do.”
