The JV Football Griffins were able to follow up a Varsity win on Friday night with an impressive victory of their own Saturday morning at Pop Warner Field. The Griffs hammered the visiting Lew-Port Lancers 30 – 0.

The game could not have started any better for the Griffins as Billy Dickinson took an 88-yard kickoff return all the way to the house. Nick Esposito punched in the two-point try to give the Griffs an 8-0 lead before the fans could even sit down. The kickoff unit has been a huge bright spot for the team throughout the season.

Springville kept the pressure on by smothering the Lancers on their opening offensive possession. Chris Phinney made a couple of big tackles in the backfield to help force the punt. These were just a few of the team-high 16 tackles that Phinney would rack up during the game. The offense for the Griffins took over in great field position and immediately delivered. Dickinson connected with Matt Felix on a 29-yard touchdown pass as Felix beat the one-on-one coverage and found himself wide open. Again, Esposito ran in a two-point attempt to put the Griffins on top 16-0.

S-GI’s defense continued to put the clamps on Lew-Port until the offense could strike again. Early in the second quarter, Dickinson connected with Phinney on a 19-yard touchdown. Phinney took the swing pass and used a great block by a Griffin wide receiver to pave the way to the endzone. The score put the Griffs on top 22-0. Penalties plagued the Griffins throughout the game and several big calls stalled out Springville drives to keep the score the same going into halftime.

Springville came out on defense to start the second half and made a huge play to seal the game. The Lew-Port quarterback dropped back to pass and was crushed by Nick Czora as he stepped into his throw. The hit caused the pass to be well under thrown and Matt Wolcott intercepted it and sprinted 30 yards for the defensive touchdown. Phinney plowed into the endzone for the two-point try and the Griffs went up 30-0.

The Springville defense locked down the shutout in the second half with some great defensive efforts. Ryan Cordova made 11 tackles and Brian Seneca added a fumble recovery. It looked like the Lancers might score near the end of the game but the Springville secondary, led by Aaron Byrne, Esposito and Tim Prouty, came up with some great coverage to keep them out.

The win improves the Griffins to 2-5-1 as they look to finish the season on a strong note against the Tonawanda Warriors on Thursday night at 6:30 in Tonawanda’s Clint Small Stadium.