Lake football stays perfect; volleyball battles through busy week

GlenOak hung around for a while, thanks in part to a miscue here and there by the Blue Streaks, but Lake was never seriously threatened in a 35-21 Federal League win over the Golden Eagles.

With the win, the Blue Streaks hit the halfway mark of the regular season with a flawless record that has them perched atop the Division II, Region 5 rankings.

The game did not start well as Lake’s explosive offense was handcuffed in a scoreless first quarter. GlenOak’s defense forced three three-and-outs, then the Golden Eagles put together a drive capped by Evan Crissey’s 3-yard touchdown pass to RJ Hairston for a 7-0 lead in the opening seconds of the second quarter.

Lake got it into gear as quarterback Alex Quior led successive scoring drives. The first ended with a 31-yard pass to Chase Fuller to tie the game. Three minutes later, Davis Matson bolted 29 yards to give the Blue Streaks a 14-7 lead.

On GlenOak’s next possession, a fumble gave Lake a short field. Quior capitalized with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Chad Novak on fourth-and-4. Not content with a two-score lead, Quior tossed his third touchdown of the quarter, a 51-yarder to Cole Lanterman for a 28-7 halftime advantage.

Neither team could sustain a drive in the third quarter until GlenOak’s Javi’ion McClendon scored on a 7-yard run to cap a 75-yard march, cutting the deficit to 28-14. Quior appeared ready to answer with another score, but he fumbled at the end of a 30-yard scramble. The Golden Eagles took over at their own 42-yard line, but Lake’s Aaron Mitchell and Angelo Wood stuffed DeMarlo Rozier for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-2.

Five plays later, Quior connected with Justin Landes for his fourth touchdown pass, this one from 19 yards out, to seal a 35-14 lead. GlenOak scored again, but less than a minute remained.

Quior finished 10-of-21 passing for 198 yards and ran for 53 yards on five carries. Matson led the ground game with 129 yards on 26 touches. Fuller had three receptions for 78 yards, while Lanterman added two catches for 59 yards and Novak two for 23.

Volleyball 

It was a busy week for the Blue Streaks, who played five matches, four of them outside the Federal League.

They opened Sept. 16 at Kent Roosevelt with a 3-1 win (25-18, 25-22, 24-26, 25-21). Peyton Fritz and Ayla Filisky led with 15 and 14 kills, while Luci Haddad tallied 21 digs and 19 receptions. Sydney Hedrick had 16 assists and Michaela Slayman added 13.

The next day, Lake swept Massillon Washington 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-9). On Sept. 18, the Blue Streaks hosted Hoover in a league match and won the first set, but the Vikings came back to win 3-1 (25-27, 25-15, 25-17, 25-20).

Lake wrapped up the week Sept. 20 by hosting a tri-match with Louisville and St. Vincent-St. Mary. The Blue Streaks (8-7, 3-4) defeated the Irish 2-1 (15-25, 25-16, 25-23), but fell to the Leopards 2-0 (25-22, 25-21).

Cross country 

Lake competed Sept. 20 in the Malone XC Night Invitational hosted by Malone College.

The boys placed fourth in the Red Division with 138 points, led by sophomores Brycen Vensel (17:27.8) and Mason DeBois (17:28.9), who finished 23rd and 24th. Brady Norcia placed 32nd, junior Nolan Brasko 35th, and Nathaniel Cheronis 38th.

The girls finished fifth overall in the Red Division, paced by freshman Heidi Hart’s 14th-place finish (20:42.2). Senior Madeline Utz was 18th, while juniors Ava Volpe, Ava Potashnik and Ella Sainato rounded out the scoring in 27th, 33rd and 42nd, respectively.