Lancers Pour it on Pasadena Poly
By Larry Ayers
When the Francis Parker Lancers finally arrived in Pasadena California, they were welcomed with cloudy skies, a cool breeze (extreme football weather), and three bucks from coach Morrison. The whole week the Parker coaches stressed the importance of defeating this Pasadena team who has beaten us for the past three years. That was the main motivation for the Lancers entering this game, not to mention for some it was waking up at 5:00am and traveling for two hours. After Parker’s JV, The Little Lancers, destroyed the Panthers’ JV, the Varsity Lancers were ready to kick off chapter two of the “Lancer Revenge Tour 2005”.
The Lancers won, but deferred the coin toss leaving the Panthers no choice but to run up against Parker’s dreadful kickoff team, which allowed only 73yds on 8 returns last week. On the opening kickoff the Lancers managed to stop the Panthers after a 12yd gain. The Lancer D came out a bit sluggish and non-enthused on the first drive, and the Panther offense took advantage. Driving the down the field, Poly managed to score on a 27yd TD pass. Luckily, Kit Barmeyer and Tyler Mabry blocked the PAT and the Panthers were up 6-0. But on Parker’s first drive, the Lancers held no prisoners, scoring in just five plays. The fifth play was a Johnny Harari bomb to tight end Kit Barmeyer. After Barmeyer's stretching catch and an Ian Yoder kick, the Lancers were up 7-6. After the opening drive and a few words from defensive coordinator, Dave Greenstein, the Lancer D woke up and allowed only 63yds rushing and a 27yd field goal. A few hard rushes from the D-line, led by Tom Stipanov gave the panthers no room, while the linebackers led by Preston Cavignac, left them breathless. The defensive backs, Gino Gordon, Mike Gonzales, Jason Blake, and Nick Saba made a lot of pounding hits along the sidelines, reassuring that the defense means business.
The Parker offense was just relentless, as they should have been after their own defense outscored them the week before. The offensive-line, led by center Anthony Pretto and guard Fletcher Kelsey opened up holes and simply got 'er done. Protected by the Offensive-line and led by quarterback Johnny Harai, the Parker O drove up and down the field. Harari was 10-12 completions, 224yds and threw for two touchdowns. Johnny-P hit senior wide receivers Larry Ayers 3 times for 59yds and Preston Cavignac twice for 60yds and a 50yd-touchdown. Gorgeous Gordon showed his magic footwork stacking up 51yds rushing on 7 carries and 1 touchdown, while senior fullback Zack Pavel simply overpowered Poly, stacking 81yds rushing on 6 carries and a 28yd touchdown. Avery Brovick was also shown some love; displaying those great lacrosse moves he gained 30yds rushing on 5 attempts and a touchdown. Add in a 26yd field goal by Ian Yoder and you have the final score Parker-37 Pasadena-9. The next game is 7:00pm at Parker September 30, 2005 against the physical Coronado Islanders.
