By DAVE YATES
You knew it would come down to this.
A back and forth game where one of the teams would have to make a stand to pull out the win. On Friday night it was the Eastridge defense that stopped Spencerport on fourth down at the five yard line with under :30 to play to secure a 32-26 victory. With the win Eastridge improves to 4-2 and the Rangers drop to 0-6. But the way this one went you would have never guessed the hosts hadn’t won this year.
Right from the opening kick they made a statement, falling on a squib kick that gave them a possession that would lead to a score. Their grind it out, double wing offense marched down and capped off the drive with a 2 yard touchdown run from Jaden Smith for a 6-0 lead.
The Lancers would only run one play from scrimmage in the first quarter, but they made the most of it, answering right away when Matthew Brantley took it 67 yards to tie the game at six.
Late in the quarter Spencerport regained the lead on another short run. This time it was LeVar Merit going in from 3 yards to make it 12-6.
The second quarter saw the offenses both getting into a rhythm. Gunner Lattimore would take it in from 3 yards to put Easridge on top 13-12. But Spencerport is able to answer right away. Reggie Boykins found a seam and busted a 63 yard scamper to make it an 18-13 game.
Eastridge answers thanks to Brantley again, it was only 1 yard this time but still counts for six and it was 19-18.
Before the end of the half it was Boykins doing the honors once again, an 11 yard run and at the break Spencerport found themselves on top 26-19
After a scoreless third quarter Shar’ron Davis evened things up with a 2 yard touchdown run, and then it was time for the Lancer defense to step up, forcing a fumble that Alejandro Diaz would fall on at their own 40.
On the very next play Jalen Rose Hall showed off his speed, slipping to the outside turning on his jets and going 60 yards to make it 32-26.
But Spencerport would put together an impressive drive, picking up a first down after a pass interference call and then converting on a pair of fourth downs. They would reach the Lancer 6 with 36 seconds to play and face another fourth down, but the third time wasn’t the charm for them-the left side of the Eastridge defensive line stuffed a run to seal the win.
Eastridge will host Arcadia in their regular season finale while Spencerport travels to Athena.
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