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CHAPMAN LAKE — While others saw a lopsided loss, new Northwest coach Lon Hazlet found a healthy dose of hope.

His quarterback consistently sparked the offensive ground game.

His defense hung in there.

And his team played hard all the way to the end.

Of course, that didn’t stop mighty Lakeland from pounding out a 42-14 victory at Lakeland High School, spoiling Hazlet’s head coach debut with Northwest.

But all those positives may help an inexperienced Rangers team recover a lot quicker for next week.

“I’m proud of the kids and their effort,” Hazlet said. “We’ll go back to work and get better. We’ll be just fine down the road.”

Any road to success this season my lead through Northwest quarterback Jeremy Walsh, who rushed for a game-high 143 yards and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass for the team’s first score.

“He’s a great kid,” Hazlet said.

Trailing 14-0, Walsh sparked a spirited Rangers comeback when he ripped off consecutive rushes of 35 and 24 yards, setting up his nifty 19-yard touchdown strike to Ezra Judge that pulled Northwest within 14-7 with 4:07 remaining in the first half.

“We did a lot of good things,” Hazlet said. “We just made too many mistakes.”

The first big one came on the ensuing kickoff, when Northwest first jumped offsides, then watched Lakeland’s Rob Bomba return the second kick 55 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 Chiefs lead.

Things only snowballed from there for Northwest.

Lakeland’s Garth Estadt picked off a pass on the second play of the second half, and Cy Babcanec cashed it in with a 26-yard touchdown run on the next play from scrimmage to boost the Chiefs’ lead to 28-7.

A poor punt after the next Northwest series set up Lakeland’s 51-yard scoring drive, capped by a five-yard touchdown scamper by reserve quarterback Jake Gross.

And a few moments later, Lakeland set the mercy rule into effect when Zach Polito returned a Northwest fumble 55 yards for a touchdown, putting the Rangers in a 42-7 hole.

They fell behind initially when Eric Ferko broke off a 12-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and Polito, playing wide receiver, hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Gross in the second quarter.

“They’re a very good team, just the opposite of us,” Hazlet said. “We had two starters coming back. They have nine.”

Northwest closed the scoring when Jake Anderson ran for a five-yard touchdown with 6:48 to play.

By then, though, the Rangers were basically laying their groundwork for the future.

“At times we were physical and they continued to play hard,” Hazlet said of his Rangers. “We told them before the game, Rangers can’t beat Rangers. We talked about penalties and turnovers. But we did some good things.”

Lakeland 42, Northwest 14

Northwest`0`7`0`7`—`14

Lakeland`7`14`14`7`—`42

First quarter

L —Eric Ferko 12 run (Colin Cooper kick), 2:23

Second quarter

L — Zach Polito 29 pass from Jake Gross (Cooper kick), 7:30

NW — Ezra Judge 19 pass from Jeremy Walsh (Walsh kick), 4:07

L — Rob Bomba 55 kick return (Cooper kick), 3:57

Third quarter

L —Cy Babcanec 26 run (Wesley Strong kick), 11:16

L — Jake Gross 5 run (Strong kick), 2:28

Fourth quarter

L — Polito 55 fumble return (Cooper kick), 10:46

NW — Jake Anderson 5 run (Walsh kick), 6:48

Team statistics`Nwt`Lak

First downs`14`19

Rushes-yards`37-205`39-235

Passing yards`53`59

Total yards`258`294

Passing`5-17-2`5-9-0

Sacked-yards lost`1-4`0-0

Punts-avg.`3-22.5`1-32

Fumbles-lost`4-2`0-0

Penalties-yards`4-46`4-28

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — NW, Jeremy Walsh 17-143, Jake Anderson 9-46, Bryce Harrison 3-20, Garrett Reese 6-13, TEAM 2- (munus 17); LAK, Mike Lowry 10-58, Eric Ferko 9-56, Cy Babcanec 4-44, Paul Sokoloski 6-23, Chris Smigiel 3-22, Jake Gross 3-20, Tyler Bylotas 1-6, Cody Rupp 1-3, Nick Piraino 1-2, TEAM 1- (minus 1).

PASSING — NW, Walsh 5-18-2-53; LAK, Rupp 3-6-0-20, Gross 2-3-0-39.

RECEIVING — NW, Harrison 3-31, Judge 2-22; LAK, Polito 3-46, Lowry 1-10, Tarin Harding 1-3.

INTERCEPTIONS — LAK, Garth Estadt 1-14, Luke Pettuinato 1-0.

By Paul Sokoloski

[email protected]

Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski