Bulldog run game takes control vs. Red Dragons
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CORTLAND -- Lakeview continued its seesaw of a 2025 season Friday with a decisive 35-7 home victory against Northeast 8 Conference foe Niles to get back into the win column.
The Bulldogs, who have not won or lost consecutive games halfway through the season, avenged last week's 46-0 shutout loss to South Range with one of their most complete performances of the year against the Red Dragons.
"We had a great week of practice," Lakeview coach Ron DeJulio Jr. said. "The seniors really stepped up, led us in practice ... it's all our senior leaders. We have great senior leaders right now. There may not be a lot, but they're leading in the locker room, even the guys that may be hurt. They're leading on the field, leading in the locker room, carrying these guys with them."
It started early Friday evening, with Noah Engle breaking free on the opening play of the game and racing into the end zone for a 71-yard touchdown less than 15 seconds after kickoff.
Following a botched snap on a punt and a stop on fourth down to get the ball back, Niles put together its only scoring drive of the game.
Vinny Broll bounced off several would-be tacklers to pick up a 54-yard gain and reach the Lakeview 15-yard line.
A few plays later, Red Dragons quarterback Joe Lehman ran it himself for 7 yards and a touchdown to draw the game even at 7.
From there on, though, it was almost entirely Lakeview.
An ineffective Niles possession led to a punt that only got to the Dragons' 40-yard line, which enabled the 'Dogs to reclaim the advantage with a slow, grinding rushing attack spearheaded by quarterback Asa Lantz and Engle.
Lantz finished off the drive with a goal-line sneak, giving Lakeview a 14-7 lead.
The Bulldogs' next drive proved to be even more painful for the Dragons, who could do little to stop the Lakeview rushing attack during a more than six-minute, 80-yard drive to close the half.
Lantz, in particular, gouged Niles with several fake-handoff QB dives through the heart of the Dragons' defense. The quarterback eventually capped off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left before the break.
"It all starts up front," DeJulio said. "Those guys work really hard. They work really hard in the offseason, and I like what they're doing right now."
Despite a kick return to the Lakeview 22 by Micah Hackett to start the second half, the Dragons' offense again sputtered and turned it over on downs inside the Bulldogs' 10-yard line.
Lakeview responded with a drive in which minute after minute, yard after yard, any chance of a Niles comeback seemingly melted away.
The Bulldogs, after eating up most of the third quarter, punched it in with a Calan Cunningham rushing score to go up by 21 just before the beginning of the fourth.
"They were more physical than us," Niles coach Jim Parry said. "They were able to just churn out first downs. We couldn't get the defense off the field in the second half. We don't convert the touchdown, and with the two-score lead that they had, they were just able to drain the clock out from there.
"You have to convert. Again, that's what we're telling our kids. Football comes down to a few plays, believe it or not, and if we don't get the ball in the end zone when we get it down there, you're gonna pay the price."
Late in the fourth, Engle added another long touchdown to his big game to send the homecoming crowd home happy.
Lakeview (3-2, 1-1 NE8) will attempt to buck its one-win, one-loss trend next Friday at league rival Girard.
After being outscored 86-14 by Hubbard and Lakeview in its last two outings, Niles (0-5, 0-2) gets a reprieve from its conference schedule with a home matchup vs. Chaney next week.