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La Salle outlasts Elder 24-10

Trailing 10-7 in the second quarter, the La Salle Lancers stormed back with a 17-0 run to ultimately defeat the Elder Panthers 24-10.

La Salle (8-2) reclaimed the lead with 19 seconds in the first half on a touchdown by TreSean Smith, after allowing the Panthers (6-4) to score 10-straight points within three minutes in the second quarter. The Lancers then shut Elder out in the second half and scored a touchdown in the third quarter, along with a field goal in the fourth, leading them to a win in their final game of the regular season.

La Salle RB/DB TreSean Smith (photo by Mike Noyes/TriStateFootball.com)

La Salle RB/DB TreSean Smith (photo by Mike Noyes/TriStateFootball.com)

The Smith touchdown was one of his two on the night, as his only carries in the game finished in the end zone.

“That was a huge touchdown for us, TreSean Smith did an unbelievable job to get in the end zone and that gave us momentum to go into halftime and then we got the ball back and that was a huge thing to be able to set the tone if the second half,” said La Salle head coach Jim Hilvert.

Offensively, La Salle was led by running back Christian Turner who rushed for 150 yards on 23 attempts, the most yards on the ground he has had all season.

Turner also supported his quarterback Griffin Merritt in a big way, hauling in five catches for 133 yards and one touchdown ― Turner finished the regular season with 45 catches for 628 yards and eight touchdowns.

“Christian Turner had a huge game for us catching the ball and running the ball,” Hilvert said. “He was lights out, a senior leader and captain and we relied on him a lot.”

Merritt only completed three more passes for 17 yards on the night, finishing eight for 13 with 150 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions.

On the season, Merritt completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,556 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions.

The Lancer defense got to Elder’s quarterback Danny Nieman often throughout the game, sacking him a total of six times.

The pressure forced Nieman to only throw for 56 yards on nine of 20 passing and zero touchdowns.

“We did a good job of tackling better in the second half and forcing second and third and longs,” Hilvert said after his team gave up zero points in the second half, compared to 10 in the first. “We did some different blitzes and different stunts and stuff like that, got after the quarterback a little bit and defense played lights out in the second half. I was really happy for the kids.”

Defensive end Zach Rumpke and linebacker Ethan Campbell combined for three of the team’s sacks.

“We put it together and I tried a couple moves I’ve never tried before and it ended up working pretty well for me,” Rumpke said. “It was breathtaking, making plays like this and everybody cheering and knowing you did that is un-describable.”

Holding their opponent to two scores is nothing new for La Salle, as the Lancer defense has held opposing teams to just over 14 points per game on the season and 11.8 points during their last six outings.

Despite only totaling 129 yards of offense, Elder did create damage on the ground, as running back TiAriq Dailey ran for 106 yards on 26 attempts ― his second-straight game rushing for over 100 yards.

The Panthers had successful individual performances on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive back Zach Lyons and linebacker Lucas Downey both totaled eight tackles in the game. In addition, defensive end Spencer Bono had seven.

Lyons has been posting big number all season, finishing regular season play with 78 total tackles and three interceptions.

The Lancers are headed into the playoffs as the reigning two-time Ohio Division II state champions, and now look to three-peat.

“We just got to take one game at a time, that’s a huge thing for us, got to take one game at a time,” Hilvert said. “You take one game at a time I think we have a chance. [We] can’t be complacent. Playing at home in the first round is definitely a big thing for us, we play really well at home, but one game at a time, win and advance.”

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