Strong return for Myer defensive end

A.N Myer’s Tucker Lynch had a game that would make fellow defensive ends extremely envious.

The 17-year-old had a touchdown when he recovered a blocked punt in the end zone and added a fumble recovery and a sack to help lead the A.N. Myer Marauders senior football team (2-0) to a 45-6 victory over the Westlane Spartans Friday in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 1 play.

“I am very excited about it,” he said, of the first defensive TD of his career. “I was happy that my teammates gave me the chance to make a play.”

The Grade 12 student is enjoying a successful return to football after sitting out his entire Grade 11 year while recovering from a concussion he suffered in Grade 10. He was injured in a game versus Ridgeway-Crystal Beach.

“I got up and I knew something wasn’t right.”
Doctors told him it would take two weeks to recover from the concussion, but the symptoms lasted an entire year.

“I waited the two weeks, we had a championship game and I really wanted to play,” he said. “I played in the championship game and I hurt it more — it was a bad decision on my part — and from then on it really bothered me when I did physical activities.

“When I did weight lifting or running, it would really flare up and I made the decision to sit out Grade 11.’

It wasn’t an easy choice.

“It was a really hard decision, but I feel it was the right one because now I am able to come back here and do what I love.”

He was able to get through his year of enforced absence from football by attending practice.

“It was terrible and I missed it so much.”

The 5-foot-11, 175 pounder agrees he is far from the prototypical defensive lineman.

“I just have a lot of speed and a lot of heart.”

In his case, size doesn’t matter.

“He is undersized, but he never gives up,” Myer head coach Dave Buchanan said. “And at practice if things aren’t flowing well, he steps up as one of our leaders and tells his team that it isn’t pushing hard enough.

Buchanan describes Lynch as a great kid.

“He has a high motor and is a super teammate.”

For the Westlane Spartans (1-1) who were coming off a win over last year’s finalist, Greater Fort Erie, Friday’s game was a case of anything that could go wrong, went wrong.

“That’s what happened today. That was it exactly,” Westlane head coach Jason Babony said. “Things went wrong and it was kind of flukey.”

What wasn’t lucky is what happened after Westlane’s bad luck.

“They (Myer) capitalized on all our mistakes,” he said. “We will be better and we will fix those mistakes after watching the film.”

Thankfully for the Spartans, the loss came in only the team’s second game of the season.

“We’re not in any kind of panic,” Babony said. “We are going to come back, watch the film and adjust for the next game.

“We have three games left and we are not really banged up.”

Buchanan felt the turning point in the game was Dallas Bone’s 85-yard kickoff return after Westland had cut the lead to 21-6.

“They hung in there at the beginning and they played hard,” he said. “They got some momentum and then they got the return against them. It took the wind out of their sails for a bit.”

Any time after that when Westlane had a sniff of success, Myer’s defence snuffed it out.

“Our defence is pretty gritty,” Buchanan said. “They are allowing us to make some mistakes on offence, giving us field position and teams aren’t scoring on us.

“Then when we get rolling, we have the ability to score quick.”

STATS PACK

Marauders 45 Spartans 6

Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s Players of the Game: Myer’s Dallas Bone with three touchdowns and Myer’s Tucker Lynch with a fumble recovery, a recovered blocked punt in the end zone for a score, and a sack.

For the A.N. Myer Marauders: Bone, nine- and 37-yard TD passes from Ryan James and an 85-yard kick return for a TD; one-yard TD run by James; one-yard TD run by Jeremiah Nyambiya; Lynch, TD, fumble recovery and sack; 12-yard field goal by Jason Burke; James Prew, blocked punt and fumble recovery; Christian Kuriata, recovered fumble; forced fumble by Josh Canali and recovery by Devon Naylor.

For the Westlane Spartans: six-yard interception return for TD by Rob Prior; Nathan Surla, two sacks; Xavier Rolle, strip and fumble recovery.