Andrew Ganci put his hand down so Lakeland could rise.
Lakeland is the talk of the New Jersey football world after stunning Caldwell in the North 2, Group 2 semifinals and ending the Chiefs’ 37-game winning streak Friday night. The Lancers now head to undefeated Bernards to meet the Mountaineers for the sectional title on Friday.
Every season has defining moments for football teams. Some come on a big stage in front of a big crowd, while some are short meetings between a coach and a player where a player – and a team’s − character are revealed.
That was the spot first-year Lakeland coach Ryan McCarney was in when he called on Ganci for a quick chat back in August.
“When I took over, our biggest thing was personnel and putting our guys in the best position to be successful, and we thought Andrew could be better utilized as a defensive end and tight end,” McCarney said Sunday night. “He had been an outside linebacker and receiver. He never questioned anything. He went from catching passes during 7-on-7s to, in the season, his hand is in the ground on defense and he’s not that much involved in the passing game.”
You know what McCarney is hinting at. As a new head coach – even though he’s been around the program for years – he asked one of his senior leaders to sacrifice a prime spot, a playmaker position, to do some of the dirty work. Not every player would accept that role.
“It shocked me a little, but I wanted to do it,” Ganci said. “It is less glamorous than outside linebacker. Your name gets called a little less, but it’s just as important. You have to contain the edge. It’s different because you’re hitting on a lineman every play and you’re not always getting through.”
Ganci has one catch on offense this season from the tight end spot and is mainly a blocker.
Defensively, he has been a force despite often going against bigger offensive linemen. His crowning moment came on a scoop-and-score against rival West Milford, the first TD ever scored on the Lancers’ new turf field.
McCarney appreciated that moment for Ganci, seeing it as a reward for his selfless position switch.
“I did not get that specific ball,” laughed Ganci, “but after the game I did get a game ball.”
On Friday, the Lancers secured one of their biggest wins in the last decade, coming back from a 21-7 deficit to beat the Chiefs, who hadn’t lost a game in nearly three years and held the state’s longest active win streak.
“Our message all week was all the talk outside was that they had won 37 straight and we said we don’t care about what they had won, to us, they were 0-0,” McCarney said. “We felt good about what we had in our game plan. We knew we wanted to survive the first quarter and that gave us confidence.”
Added Ganci: “I don’t think anyone immediately realized what we just did over the weekend and the type of team we beat. It’s just great to see the way we played and now have the chance to play for something like this.”
Ganci, 17, grew up playing football in Ringwood, mainly as a tight end and linebacker, although he had played some defensive line before high school. He’s 6-foot-4, 215 pounds − McCarney is trying to get him out for basketball − but Ganci lives for football.
“We’ve got three captains who are lead-by-example guys, Andrew isn’t a captain, but he’s more of our vocal leader,” McCarney said. “At the end of our pregame stretch, he’s the guy who breaks it down. The guys all respect him. He’s put in a ton of work in the weight room. He didn’t question the switch.”
The season comes full circle for the Lancers now. They scrimmaged Bernards way back in August, now they go back there for a shot at their first sectional title since 2010.
“I think we’re playing our best football right now,” McCarney said. “We can’t wait to get to practice. The buzz in our community has been great. We know they are a darn good football team, they have weapons. We know they’re big and fast. We want to feed off what we did last week and put ourselves in position late.”
2023-11-07 09:11:55
#Andrew #Ganci #position #switch #led #upset
