Dean leads Danbury to 8-man win over SJCC

LAKESIDE — Tommy Dean got a lot of attention Saturday. After four touchdowns and three two-point conversions, Dean was first in the handshake line. Dean did a little bit of everything for Danbury, leading the Lakers to a 46-13 win over Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic in Northern 8 Conference action. "Tommy is a special kid," said Danbury coach Brett Sykes of the senior. "He's a great kid, too. He leads us. He's a three-year starting quarterback. He's started since a sophomore. He has a lot of confidence and he's seen a lot of high school football." It looked like it was going to be a shootout early as the Lakers (1-0, 1-0 N8) led 16-13 just over seven minutes into the game. But, Danbury's defense kicked it up a notch from there. The Lakers kept the Crimson Streaks (0-1, 0-1) off the scoreboard the rest of the game. Danbury forced two turnovers, two turnovers on downs and took advantage of a 14-yard loss when the SJCC punter's knee was down on a punt. "We didn't know what to expect," said Sykes of facing SJCC. "The only film we saw on them was a scrimmage when they were here. I think everyone was a little nervous to get it going. Once we settled in, we did OK. We still have a little work to do because they got us on the edge a few times. "Defensively, we preach relentless effort and running to the football. Once we started doing that, things changed a lot. We still have a lot of work to do." The Lakers were able to build on their three-point lead in the second quarter, but not without a mistake first. Driving in SJCC territory, Danbury fumbled the ball away inside the Streaks' 15. SJCC marched right down the field and was at the Danbury 25 when Grey Maltese intercepted a pass from SJCC quarterback Zach Ohms in the end zone. The Lakers took advantage, going 80 yards in 10 plays, capped on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Dean to Maltese. The two-point conversion failed, but Danbury led 22-13 at halftime. "When we're in the red zone, we can't have a turnover like that," said Sykes of the earlier fumble. "It's a momentum killer. We were lucky enough that they threw an interception down at the goal line as well. We skated through that." The Lakers kept coming in the second half. More big plays quickly moved Danbury down the field. This time, Drake Turinsky rumbled in from two yards out and Zyler Manning added the two-point conversion for a 30-13 advantage. From there, the Lakers forced a turnover on downs and methodically guzzled clock away with their stout run game. In the end, Dean scored from a yard out and added the conversion to make it 38-13. "We preached ball security all week long offensively," Sykes said. "Defensively, we preach attack and take away the ball as much as we can in every practice. It's finally starting to show up on Saturday nights." Dean finished with 17 carries for 104 yards while Turinsky added 16 rushes for 126 yards. Manning registered 12 attempts for 70 yards. "We have a stable of running backs and a quarterback that are very special players," Sykes said. "If we can block it up right, any given play they can rip one off. You're going to see a lot of that. We're going to run the ball, run the ball, run the ball all year long." Freshman Silas Niese added a six-yard touchdown and classmate Eli Knight the two-point conversion to put the game in running clock mode. Danbury is back in action next Saturday when it hosts Waldron from Michigan, a team that beat the Lakers 28-24 two years ago in the final minute and 48-28 last year. "Usually when we play them, it's the first game of the year," Sykes said. "It'll be good to have a game under our belts when they come to town." SJCC 13 0 0 0 — 13Danbury 16 6 8 16 — 46 SJCC — Andrew Spieldenner 34 run (Ethan Grahl kick)D — Tommy Dean 11 run (Dean run)D — Ayden Ayers 27 pass from Dean (Dean run)SJCC — Liam Thiessen 41 run (kick failed)D — Grey Maltese 15 pass from Dean (run failed)D — Drake Turinsky 2 run (Zyler Manning run)D — Dean 1 run (Dean run)D — Silas Niese 6 run (Eli Knight run)