Aside from a few choice words, Andy Lancberg didn’t say much to his players when they huddled Friday night following a disheartening 24-0 loss to Lincoln under the lights in Coney Island.
There wasn’t much to say. His John F. Kennedy football team had just fallen to 0-2, it lost its quarterback, Anthony Cruz, to a shoulder injury and was soundly beaten on both sides of the ball.
“When it rains,” the second-year coach said, “it pours.”
Lancberg wasn’t sure how long Cruz would be out. The impressive sophomore sustained an injury to his right throwing shoulder at some point during the first half – Lancberg wasn’t positive when – and didn’t play after halftime.
Even before Cruz went to the sidelines, he was having trouble with Lincoln’s swarming defense, having completed just 4-of-12 passes for 26 yards and one interception. In his place, running back Romario Dillion moved under center, to limited success. He had just 42 yards rushing on the evening, far less than half of the 211 he produced in the Week 1 loss to Port Richmond.
“We had to change our game plan a little bit,” Lancberg said. “A lot of things started going bad. If something could occur, it occurred.”
Though Kennedy’s defense didn’t allow any points in the second half, it was blitzed for 24 points over the game’s first 17:03, and if not for a pair of Lincoln turnovers, that number could’ve been in the high 30s. Plus, Railsplitters star running back Kareem Folkes (158 yards rushing, 2 TDs) sat the entire fourth quarter.
Lancberg and Dillion talked about maintaining focus after the shutout, not letting it hinder the team’s hopes. Kennedy saw itself as a playoff team when the year began and the coach still feels that way, even after this game and the heartbreaking Week 1 loss to Port Richmond when a last-second kickoff return turned a feel-good win into a gut-wrenching loss.
“It’s difficult to change the culture of losing, but we’re headed in the right direction,” he said of a program that has now won just four of its last 20 games the last two-plus years. “We just have to turn that page. We will – I know we will.”
Neither Lancberg nor Dillion criticized Kennedy’s effort, in practice or on game day. With so many new starters, the coach feels confidence is an issue.
“We have to come out and play, we have to show up,” Dillion said. “We played hard, but we got to bring it.”