LH Football Defense sparks fast start; Bald Eagles soar to season-opening victory
LOCK HAVEN, PA – The defensive unit powered a quick start and the Bald Eagles rolled from there as the Lock Haven football team (1-0) opened the 2023 season Saturday at home with a dominating non-conference victory over Post (0-1), 58-7.
Saturday marked the start of the second season under head coach Dan Mulrooney’s leadership and it was the first of six home games scheduled for the Bald Eagles in 2023.
The win marked Lock Haven’s fourth straight season-opening win and the first season-opening win at home since 2019 vs. Lincoln (W, 57-13). Overall, it’s the first win at home since 2019 season-finale vs. Gannon (Nov. 16, 2019), a 28-27 win.
Coach Mulrooney is now 2-0 at Lock Haven in season-openers.
The 58 points are the most in a single game – and win – since Lock Haven scored 57 in the 2019 season-opening win at home vs. Lincoln.
Danny Sanchez (Bronx, N.Y./Lehman (Stony Brook) accounted for four total touchdowns. He threw for three (9-14, 121 yards) and rushed for another.
It was the defense however that sparked a fast start as the Bald Eagles led 14-0 before the offense ever hit the field.
Transfer Cody Romano (Newton, N.J./Blair Academy (Penn State)), a linebacker, was expected to make an immediate impact and he did just that on the opening drive of the game as Romano scooped a Post-fumble and it took 48 yards to the end zone for Bald Eagle touchdown.
On the very next Post drive, and less than a minute later after Romano’s scoop and score, Victor Hunt (Bath, Pa./Northampton Area) picked off Post quarterback Simon Burkett and returned the ball 30 yards for a TD. Lock Haven’s back-to-back defensive scores put the Bald Eagles up 14-0 before the home crowd got a chance to see the offensive unit.
Chris Hicks (Stafford, Va./North Stafford), T-iar Young (Philadelphia/Northeast (Millersville) and Chris Collier (Lawrence, N.Y./Lawrence (Wagner College) all hauled in touchdown catches.
Collier and Jacob Sturm (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) both rushed for TDs.
Collier carried the ball 12 times for a game-high 78 yards. Hicks recorded 52 yards on three catches.
Defensively, Hunt had two interceptions and Michael Dixon (Kennesaw, Ga./North Cobb (Tennessee Tech) led Lock Haven with six total tackles and a forced fumble. Davien Vernon (Florence, N.J./Bergen Catholic) added five tackles as it was a total effort on the defensive side that powered The Haven from the opening whistle.
With a 28-0 lead, Lock Haven after the opening quarter and the Bald Eagles exploded for another 21 points in the third quarter.
It marked The Haven’s second straight season opener against Post and the second consecutive victory for the Bald Eagles over the Post Eagles.
UP NEXT:
Lock Haven will head to Mercyhurst for Week 2 (Saturday, Sept. 9) action. The first of two straight PSAC East-West clashes will start at 6 p.m. in Erie, Pennsylvania next week.
