Turnovers key as Warriors take opener

BY: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
    Anyone ever get lost, make one wrong turn after another and still somehow reach your destination?
    Okay, now you know how Tom Farrell feels after his New Egypt High football team won its season opener at home over Burlington City on Friday night, 24-6.
    “We did not play well,” Farrell said. “We didn’t do much on offense at all.”
    Even so, the bottom line is the bottom line.
    “The bottom line is I’ll take an ugly loss over a pretty win any day,” Farrell said.
    According to Farrell, New Egypt didn’t make a lot of big plays on offense. The ones it did make, however, were certainly keepers.
    New Egypt was held to two first downs in the game. Both came on long scoring runs. Dakota Havens went in on a 49-yard run. Langston Lacroix went in on a 71-yard run.
    Both of those players would have a impact on the game in another position as well.
    Lacroix kicked a 29-yard field goal to get New Egypt on the board in the first quarter. And in addition to also scoring on a 5-yard run, Havens had a remarkable day on defense.
    Havens, the team’s leading tackler last season, had 23 tackles on Friday. It was the start of what should be another great season for the two-time Defensive MVP for New Egypt.
    “Dakota was a man out there on defense,” Farrell noted. “He took over the defense.”
    And that’s saying a lot because New Egypt played fairly well on defense. Burlington City moved the ball, but New Egypt was very well aware of the lines it didn’t want its opponent to cross.
    “What’s encouraging about this game is I didn’t think the defense would be this good,” Farrell said. “You always look to shut down the other team on defense. We gave up some yards, but we made the plays on defense that we had to make.”
    The best thing New Egypt did was to force turnovers.
    “They had ten fumbles and we got four of them,” Farrell said. “They drove on us, got the ball deep and we got some key fumble recoveries.
    “Anytime you get a win like this, it’s a program victory. We have a lot of kids out there expecting to win. We found a way.”
    Although Farrell is not exactly sure how. After getting there, it’s not like he has directions written down now that he and his team could follow again.
    “They outgained us in every offensive category and time of possession was heavily in their favor,” Farrell said. “The one thing we won is the turnover ratio. Obviously, that’s a huge stat.”
    It’s one New Egypt would love to win again when it plays at Maple Shade on Friday at 7 p.m. Maple Shade lost its season opener, but it was 21-14 to a powerhouse Florence squad.
    “It’s a tough one,” Farrell said. “We’re going to have to play better.”
    Or at least take Farrell and company on another memorable ride.