Halftime turnaround helps Elizabeth Forward top Deer Lakes

By: Jeremy Tepper
Saturday, August 31, 2019 | 12:26 AM

Elizabeth Forward coach Mike Collodi didn’t yell at his team at halftime. In some cases, a seven-point deficit and a half rife with mistakes might be cause for a chewing out, but Collodi knew he had to show positivity with his young players.

So that’s what he did. He assured them that things would change in the second half, and then cranked some rap music. The locker room got rocking and the Warriors erased a flat first half for a 15-7 win over Deer Lakes.

“I told them we were gonna be a completely different team in the second half and I thought we were,” Collodi said. “We just came out with a little bit of a fire in the second half. We woke up and started executing.”

Almost nothing worked early for the Warriors. The defense was just OK, as Lancers’ quarterback Aris Hasley had a fair amount of success throwing the ball. The offense was bad, as Nico Mrvos struggled in his first start at quarterback and the running game followed suit. At halftime, the Warriors were being outgained, 150-32.

But then things changed. The offensive line started clearing holes, and Evan Lewis and Nick Hunnell were hitting them, finishing with 79 and 63 yards respectively.

The defense was staunch, applying pressure on Hasley and locking down the Lancers’ receivers. The final yardage total was 277-178 in the Lancers’ favor, but the Warriors completely controlled the final two quarters.

“Everybody calmed down, relaxed and had more fun in the second half,” Lewis said. “Everybody was doing their job. We knew we had it. If we just kept doing our thing, we were gonna get it.”

While the Warriors showed a sense of calm in the second half, the first half was filled with jitters. They are no longer the veteran team that finished 8-2 last season. They are breaking in seven new starters with loads of players taking on new roles.

The Warriors weren’t able to gain a first down until just under a minute remained in the first quarter. Deer Lakes moved the ball well early on, but saw a promising drive end at the Warriors’ 12-yard line due to a turnover on an errant snap.

The Lancers scored the only points of the first half with 5 minutes, 7 seconds left in the first quarter as Hasley hit Jack Hollibaugh for 47-yard touchdown.

Considering the circumstances, Collodi felt good that his team only trailed by a touchdown.

“We made a few adjustments, but I just think in the first half, we weren’t executing what we needed to do,” he said. “We corrected a couple things and just came out and played harder.”

After stopping a Deer Lakes drive that reached the Warriors’ 8-yard line, Elizabeth Forward started to pick it up. Taking over at the Deer Lakes’ 11 after a fumble, Hill scored on an 11-yard scamper.

On the next drive, Elizabeth Forward went 79 yards, punishing the Lancers on the ground with Hill and Hunnell trading carries. Hill finished it off with a 5-yard run as the Warriors took their first lead of the game with just under six minutes left. Andrew Smith added a 27-yard field goal to extend the lead to 15-7 with 1:32 left to play.

“We have two great running backs, and they were just getting chunks of yardage and it worked,” Collodi said. “If that’s what’s working, we’re going to go with it”

While the offensive uptick was a result of a bit of an overhaul, throwing away a balanced attack for a run-dominated one, the defense largely stayed the same. The difference was the execution, as the Warriors started to put pressure on Hasley and saw the results. Hasley finished completing just 16 of 40 passes.

“We had to put pressure on the quarterback, so we brought different guys blitz-wise and got some pressure,” Collodi said. “And any time you get some pressure on a quarterback, it might rattle them.”

With so many players stepping into bigger roles, Collodi might’ve wondered how fit his team was to handle adversity early in the season. As it turns out, that question was answered rather emphatically.

“Our backs were against the wall and they came out and responded,” Collodi said. “I’m proud of them.”

Tags: Deer Lakes, Elizabeth Forward