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Lakeland’s shutout win over West Milford improves the Lancers to 9-0 on the season with the New Jersey state football playoffs looming. Lakeland came out firing on all cylinders offensively as they were able to dominate in the air.
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Senior captain Dan Deighan had a superb game throwing for 278 yards and 2 touchdowns. Deighan’s first TD pass was a 35 yard strike to senior wide receiver Tyler Engels. The second TD was to Jake McDonald on a 53 yard aerial connection. McDonald had a one yard TD run to cap the scoring.
West Milford's first three possessions were 3 and outs and they looked shaky to start the football game. The Highlanders started to move the ball in the next couple of possessions. However, Lakeland’s defense came up huge with timely sacks to terminate the Highlanders’ drives. West Milford had too many plays for negative yards to be competitive. On a drive that brought them to the Lancers’ 2 yard line, West Milford lost a fumble, ending any hopes to make it a game.
The second half didn’t produce any scoring, however, Lakeland was the dominant team. The Lancers moved the ball well on the air, unfortunately for them a couple of penalties stalled their drives. Nonetheless, Lakeland had some positive drives and a good showing heading into the post season.
West Milford entered the weekend still unsure if it would make the football post-season. That doubt remained even after Friday night, as one of the teams the Highlanders hoped would lose pulled out a win. But West Milford's final hope came through on Saturday evening when Pascack Valley beat Fair Lawn in a 49-42 in a donnybrook, eliminating the Cutters and giving the Highlanders the #8 seed. They'll play at Wayne Hills next week.
Asked for his team's goals, Lakeland coach Tom McCormack said, “We want to win the first game of the playoffs," pointing out that his team lost in the first round last season. The Lancers will be the #3 seed in their bracket and host a first-round game next Friday. --Emir Liguori for Jersey Sports Now
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