LaPierre, Renegades dethrone Lions

Mention the name Chris LaPierre to members of Shawnee's football team and the usual first reaction involves a smile and a shaking of the head.

LaPierre, whose spectacular play sometimes defies description, rushed the ball 21 times for 224 yards and two touchdowns yesterday, leading Shawnee to a 23-20 victory over host Lacey Township in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 championship game.

Shawnee's only two-way player, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound running back/free safety with 4.5 speed not only was the leading rusher throughout the cold and windy afternoon, but he also was a key tackler and punter in a game the Renegades led from start to finish.

Defending champion Lacey, a well-balanced team with solid running and passing games, trailed by 10 points twice - 16-6 at intermission and 23-13 at the top of the final period. However, the second-seeded Lions roared to within three points, 16-13 and 23-20, of fifth-seeded Shawnee (9-3) each time the Renegades appeared to be pulling away.

"They're a very explosive team and we knew that if we got out in front in the beginning, that would be good," LaPierre said. "Near the end, they had a really good passing attack."

Lacey (9-3) seized the momentum after wide receiver R.J. Roe caught a screen pass from senior quarterback Warren Smith and raced 40 yards to the end zone. The extra point made the score 16-13 with 3 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the third period.

But LaPierre swung the tide Shawnee's way at the start of the fourth quarter. He carried up the middle, found a hole to the left, sprinted through it and raced along the left sideline 79 yards for a touchdown and a 23-13 Shawnee lead.

"Chris gives the offensive line credit, but he does a lot of it on his own," said senior offensive lineman Charles Gushue, Shawnee coach Tim Gushue's nephew. "He only needs maybe a half-a-man hole to get through."

Still, Lacey rallied on the arm of Smith (13 for 23, 165 yards, one touchdown). He completed 10 of 16 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown in the second half.

From his own 2-yard line with 4 minutes remaining in the game, the senior signal-caller engineered a final drive by completing 5 of 6passes before junior Justin Pandorf scored on a 1-yard burst to draw the Lions within 23-20 with 1:31 left to play.

In the beginning of a game in which Shawnee, ranked No. 4 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, wanted to take an early lead, the Renegades registered a safety after a bad snap and went ahead, 2-0, 3:23 into the first period.

Shawnee expanded the score to 9-0 when Ben Schwing caught a screen pass from junior quarterback Kody Smith and raced 40 yards to paydirt.

Lacey countered with an 8-yard, somersaulting touchdown by Mike Mancini, drawing within 9-6 with 3:29 left in the period. But LaPierre scored on a 6-yard run in the second quarter and the Renegades led, 16-6, at halftime.

Lacey's star running back, Thomas Rickmers, rushed 20 times for 121 yards, but never found the end zone.

LaPierre, who entered the game with 1,594 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions, left with a lot more in terms of statistics and hardware.

"We've been working hard from Day 1, and when we went 2-3 at the beginning of the season, we knew we had to win every game, one game at a time," LaPierre said.

Note.

It was Shawnee's first football sectional title in Group 3. The Renegades won Group 4 titles in 2000 and 2004.

Shawnee9 7 0 7 - 23

Lacey Township6 0 7 7 - 20

S: Safety

S: Schwing 40 pass from Smith (Devine kick)

L: Mancini 8 run (kick failed)

S: LaPierre 6 run (Devine kick)

L: Roe 40 pass from Torre (Roe kick)

S: LaPierre 79 run (Devine kick)

L: Pandorf 1 run (Roe kick)