LAKE ARIEL — The new-look, pass-heavy offense stumbled a bit out of the gates.
But that wasn’t even the biggest problem for Lake-Lehman.
Stopping Zane Janiszewski was.
Janiszewski ran for 153 yards and four touchdowns Friday and Lake-Lehman lost two early turnovers that quickly took the Black Knights out of the game as Western Wayne romped to a 33-7 victory in a season-opening high school football game for both.
“We didn’t have good stops on some gaps,” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “We had 10 men in the box and they’re still getting what they needed.
“Then they ate the clock running the ball.”
The Wildcats ate up Lehman from the start.
They opened the game with a 65-yard drive, highlighted by early runs by Janiszewski of 11 and 10 yards and capped by Janiszewski’s five-yard touchdown burst.
It took nearly half of the opening quarter off the clock before Lehman even touched the ball.
When they did, the Black Knights marched down for a potential tying touchdown drive, only to self-destruct near the goal line.
After a penalty moved the ball four yards from the end zone, Lehman took a sack, then lost a fumble on the very next play.
The season’s series-opening scene then pretty much repeated itself for both teams.
Western Wayne marched 82 yards in 11 plays to reach the end zone again. A 20-yard pass by Matt Valanda and a facemask penalty on Lehman spurred the drive, and Janiszewski then capped it with a two-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 Western Wayne lead.
“It’s the way the line blocked, they blocked great,” Janiszewski said. “It was all downhill from there.”
Lehman kept tumbling.
Luke Spencer took a shovel pass into Western Wayne territory on Lehman’s second possession, but it ended when Caleb Brungard, who recovered Lehman’s earlier fumble, picked off a pass.
The Wildcats didn’t score right then, but they did build their lead to 21-0 on Valanda’s 10-yard touchdown run just 51 seconds from halftime.
“After we scored that third touchdown, I felt like it was ours,” Janiszewski said.
The Black Knights, mostly known for their power running game during the past decade, threw for 149 yards. But Lehman didn’t get on the board until Ethan Adams took off with a quarterback keeper on a 10-yard touchdown run with 9:47 remaining in the game. By that time, Western Wayne already had five touchdowns and a 33-0 lead.
“I like it,” Gilsky said of his new-look attack. “If I didn’t like it, we wouldn’t be doing it. This team (Western Wayne) did a pretty good job of what they needed to do against us on that. We had a lot of key, crucial mistakes — especially up front. You know, week one, there’s going to be a lot of mistakes.”
Make no mistake, Janiszewski was far from finished after two quarters.
His three-yard touchdown leap, after Derek Mason took a screen pass 32 yards, gave Western Wayne a 27-0 lead midway through the third quarter. And Janiszewski scored again, on a five-yard blast, later in the third quarter to give the Wildcats a 33-0 advantage.
“We had to keep the foot on the throat,” Janiszewski said. “It shows the younger guys what it’s all about. If we continue that, we’ll do well against anybody.”
Meanwhile, the Black Knights are left looking for success against somebody.
“In 10 years, I’ve only had one win the first week,” said Gilsky, who has run a highly-successful program at Lehman. “I don’t know what the reason is, I can’t figure it out.
“That’s always in the back of my mind.”
Western Wayne 33, Lake-Lehman 7
Lake-Lehman`0`0`0`7 — 7
Western Wayne`7`14`12`0 — 33
First quarter
WW — Zane Janiszewski 5 run (Jake Shepherd kick), 6:09
Second quarter
WW — Janiszewski 2 run (Shepherd kick), 9:32
WW — Matt Valanda 10 run (Shepherd kick), 0:51
Third quarter
WW — Janiszewski 3 run (Kick blocked), 6:35
WW — Janiszewski 5 run (Kick failed), 1:15
Fourth quarter
LL — Ethan Adams 10 run (Luke Spencer kick), 9:47
Team statistics`LL`WW
First downs`14`22
Rushes-yards`28-103`42-269
Passing yards`138`97
Total yards`189`366
Passing`10-24-1`8-12-0
Sacked-yards lost`3-16`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-25`2-21
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`5-38`3-21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — LL, Ryan Eiden 7-38, Zach Kajadinovich 10-29, Ethan Adams 7-21, 23 3-10, Luke Spencer 1-5. WW, Zane Janiszewski 25-153, Matt Valanda 4-38, Thomas Motichka 3-25, Caleb Brungard 7-45, Ezra Tetreault 1-6, Adam Silfies 1-2, Nick Tomasetti 1-0.
PASSING — LL, Adams 10-24-1-138. WW, Valanda 8-12-0-97.
RECEIVING — LL, Eiden 4-64, Spencer 4-48, Kajadanovich 2-26. WW, Tetreault 4-32, Derek Mason 3-59, Silfies 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS — WW Brungard 1-0.
