Piners defeat Central thanks to late field goal
Cunliffe's 21-yard kick makes the difference in 17-14 win
BY MIKE WHITE Staff Writer
Lakewood High School football coach Skip Edwards was very confident Pat Cunliffe was going to drill the kick through the uprights. He never doubted Cunliffe's ability and poise to convert one of the biggest kicks in recent memory for the Piners.

Indeed, Cunliffe split the uprights from 21 yards out last Saturday to give Lakewood a dramatic 17-14 victory over visiting Central Regional in a Shore Conference Federal Division game.

"We had all the confidence in the world that he was going to make the kick," Edwards said. "We did a great job of giving ourselves a chance to win at the end of the game. Our guys came up big in this game. We played hard the entire game and never rolled over."

After the LHS defense forced a punt late in the game, Lakewood return man Wilton Morgan returned the kick 25 yards to the Central 38-yard line. A few plays later, Lakewood quarterback Dean Seda connected with wide receiver Durian Brown for a 30- yard pass play, which put the Piners at the 5- yard line with less than a minute to go.

After two running plays, Edwards sent Cunliffe into the game to attempt only his second field goal of the season. Seda took a shaky snap from center, set the ball upright, and Cunliffe did the rest.

"Dean did a nice job of getting that snap down," Edwards said. "That could have easily thrown him off, but he kept his composure and set the ball up."

Lakewood took full advantage of four Central turnovers. The Piners turned two of the mistakes into touchdowns.

"Central has a nice team," Edwards said. "For the most part they're offense was on the field for a good majority of the game. We just made the most of our opportunities. We forced them into mistakes and then were able to take the ball in."

Lakewood squares off against a tough Middletown South team next week.

"The kids are looking forward to it, to be honest," Edwards said. "We're working hard. We have a tough challenge in front of us."

In other local action, Jackson running back Don Murphy rushed for 175 yards and scored three touchdowns as Jackson posted a resounding 34-7 win over Freehold Township in a Shore Conference American Division game. Murphy scored on runs of 2, 61, and 8 yards.

Jackson raced out to a fast 21-0 lead before Freehold was able to score before halftime.

Mark Bergery had a big game defensively, intercepting two passes. In addition, he scored Jackson's first TD on a 10-yard end-around run in the first quarter.

Senior kicker Kyle Stybe connected on field goals of 34 and 44 yards.

Florence rolled to a lopsided 57-28 win over New Egypt last Friday night. With the loss, the Warriors fall to 1-3 overall.

Jackson Liberty (1-3) was beaten by Bishop Ahr, 36-0.

New Egypt hung around for most of the first half against Florence.

In fact, the Warriors took a 22-21 lead when Langston Lacroix connected on a field goal. Lacroix rushed for 90 yards and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.

Quarterback Dylan Rowley gained 130 yards on 12 carries. He dashed 60 yards for a score for the Warriors first score. Rowley connected with tight end Dakota Havens on a 45-yard scoring play.