Lynbrook, after a win against Del Mar last week, is ready to take on James Lick.
The victory against Del Mar was a well-deserved and well-earned break for the Vikings. After losing their opening and stadium-groundbreaking game to the Gunderson Grizzlies 33-13, the team was eager for a win in order to truly display their hard work and training.
For quarterback and free safety Gabe Wagner-Rosales, the win was definitely one that helped build the team.
“The win against Del Mar really helped us come together as a team, mostly mentally," Wagner-Rosales said. "It was good to see some of our hard work pay off.”
Lineman Aneesh Sreedhar added that “it was real uplifting for us mentally, because many of us felt that we let the first game slip, so to see our hard work result in a win really felt good. Plus, (Del Mar) had ‘guaranteed’ a game against us so we felt disrespected, and wanted people (to know) that we aren’t just a pushover team -- we are a new Lynbrook.”
Amidst this optimism, however, the Vikings know that a long road is still ahead. For RB/DB Eric Day, the victory did not necessarily equate to a guaranteed solid season.
“We dominated, but we played sloppy and received a lot of penalties,” he said. “I believe that we can do much better, and I look forward to winning the rest of our games this season.”
Day, however, isn’t necessarily raining on the Lynbrook parade -- others, too, realize that a lot of work remains to be done.
For Wagner-Rosales, this work includes playing all games effectively to allow for more options when things need to work, and improving in terms of defense and tackling.
“We performed well, and just need to keep working on fundamentals so we can play (perfectly) by the end of the season," coach Jim Grassi said. "We’re not going to change anything; we stick to what we do and just keep trying to do it better each week.”
The passing game has aided Lynbrook which is completing nearly 50 percent of its passed and throwing for an average of 134 yards per game. The Vikings have been able to blow open drives downfield with pin-point accurate throws by Wagner-Rosales.
Grassi acknowledges the effectiveness of their passing game, but maintains that Lynbrook is still primarily a running team.
“Passing has been a great part of our game and opens up our running game,” he said. “You would be surprised, but we only passed 20 times out of 75 plays in the game against Del Mar. We are just effective when we do it.”
Now it's onto James Lick. Day thinks Lynbrook's last game “showed what we are capable of... so I think it’s just a small taste of what our team is. So watch out.”
