Leyden has too much 'Cheese' for Lyons
Leyden gave Lyons a huge piece of cheese Saturday in Willow Springs.
Fernando "Cheese" Corona, a 6-0, 296 pound lineman, moved to lead running back and helped pound in 3 touchdowns as Leyden trapped Lyons 31-3. It was the first win for Leyden (2-3) at Lyons in 20 years.
"That is our cheese formation," Leyden coach Tom Cerasani said. "I don't know why his nickname is cheese and he didn't have a good explanation for it either. The kids really love it when he is the game, especially at fullback."
Lining up as part of the backfield, Corona went to the wing and crushed Lyons' defenders on all 3 Vince Fredrickson's touchdown runs as the Eagles broke away from a 3-3 tie late in the first half.
"It was awesome," said Corona, who plays on both the offensive and defensive lines and lined up in the cheese formation for the first time this season.
"It is pretty fun because I love to hit people. It is fun lighting up people like that."
Leyden's Rafael Olmos gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead on their first possession with a 28-yard field goal. Lyons (1-4) matched that late in the first half.
Leyden began to break things open thanks to a 54-yard screen pass from Kyler Britten (12-of-17, 146 yards). The Cheese was then entered for the first time and Fredrickson scored from 1-yard out to make it 10-3 at the half.
The Eagles' defense was superb. Led by Corona, Ryan Jaffray, Brian Borowski, Fredrickson and Motyka, they allowed just 95 yards and 4 first downs. Lyons only had 1 first down in the second half and gained only 34 yards.
The Eagle offense churned out 209 yards on the ground behind Corona, Jaffray, Borwoski, Omar Dorado, Gerardo Castillo Shane Allen and James O'Donnell. The Eagles were able to run 64 offensive plays to Lyons' 34.
"We we beating them off the line," Jaffray said. "So we thought we would just run it,"
And run it they did with Motyka gaining 102 yards on 18 carries and Fredrickson tallying 81 yards on 19 carries.
"We like to switch off with power" said Motyka, who would later catch a 7-yard touchdown pass from Britten to close out the scoring.
"It was great to come in here and run the ball like I did today."
Fredrickson, who had 37 carries last week for 175 yards, said that the offensive line is doing a great job for him and Motyka.
"They played great today," Fredrickson said. "They make a good push up front and I just put my head down and fight for those extra yards."
Cerasani said it was sweet coming into Lyons and breaking the streak.
"It was awesome," Cerasani said. "All these guys who I coach with have been with me the whole time. It was nice for the staff and the team."