POMPTON LAKES — The steadily efficient march continues. Pompton Lakes’ climb toward another possible deep run in the playoffs and a second straight divisional crown did not hit any speed bumps Saturday as the Cardinals defeated Lyndhurst, 35-0, in an NJIC Liberty Division game at Hirschfield Park.
Led by two touchdowns on the ground from Dane Torres and two touchdown passes from Robbie Meyers, Pompton Lakes, No. 8 in The Record football Top 25, started slowly but gradually built up a head of steam to turn away the Bears.
“We did a really good job of containing them, especially our defensive ends [Myles McMahon and Connor Otto],” said Pompton Lakes coach Scott Mahoney. “They picked up some yardage and some first downs, but we held them to those gains in the middle of the field, and really did not let up any big plays on our end.”
Led by senior quarterback Danny Kesack, Lyndhurst (1-3) moved 29 yards in eight plays to the Pompton Lakes 38-yard line on the game’s first possession. Kesack hit Kyle Pollio with a 9-yard pass and had a 19-yard run, but McMahon, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior had a sack that helped stall the drive that eventually ended in a fumble recovery for the Cardinals.
Pompton Lakes, hurt by a few untimely penalties and some strong Lyndhurst defensive play, could muster only one first down in its first two possessions. An interception by junior cornerback Chris Cosenza helped end another Cardinal possession.
Kesack found Pollio with a 37-yard pass that went to the 50-yard line at the start of the second period, but on a subsequent punt attempt the snap was high and Pompton Lakes took over at its own 40.
A Meyers 13-yard completion to Torres and Torres’ 31-yard ramble around right end set up the 1-yard Torres touchdown burst that gave Pompton Lakes a 7-0 lead with 7:02 left in the second quarter.
“We really just waited for our opportunities and then we made the most of them,” said Torres, a senior fullback who had 102 yards on 19 carries. “We just kind of wore them down as the game went on and our linemen were able to kind of win the battle at the line of scrimmage, more so as the game went on.”
Pompton Lakes (4-0), which has outscored its opponents 165-8 with two shutouts this season, won the Colonial B last year and is tied with New Milford atop the Liberty Division this season. The Cardinals went 11-1 and defeated Glen Rock, 20-0, in the North 1, Group 1 state championship game last year at MetLife Stadium.
A 20-yard touchdown pass from Meyers to Drew Rayford put the Cardinals up by two TDs with 5:01 remaining until halftime.
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