Team turnaround: Last year's 0-7 start now a distant memory for 3-1 Silver Lake football

WHITMAN -- Don't look now, but the Silver Lake Regional High football team has won six of its last eight games.

OK, that run stretches back to last fall, and the Lakers aren't going to get any credit in the MIAA power rankings for their 3-1 finish to the 2023 campaign. But that strong closing stretch has flowed nicely into a 3-1 start to this season.

After opening with wins over Plymouth South and Cohasset, followed by a loss to Abington, Silver Lake came out of its bye week on Thursday night and got right back to winning, beating Whitman-Hanson, 19-3, with an all-hands-on-deck approach.

Tougher times might lie ahead with a killer Patriot League Keenan Division slate upcoming, but these postgame celebrations are a welcome relief after last season, when the Lakers stumbled to an 0-7 start. Since then, like we said, they're 6-2, and belief is growing.

"It started off in the (7-on-7) passing league over the summer," quarterback Sean Barry said. "We made the playoffs in Xaverian's league, and it felt pretty good. We felt like we could keep (the momentum) going into the season. And we pretty much did."

"We believe in ourselves, that's the difference," running back Wesley Griffin said. "We believe that we can go out there and do it, and we did it. (This) wasn't our best game. We definitely can do better. I know I can do better. But we went out there and got a win."

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Coach Mark Killinger said he always felt that the Lakers weren't a "real 0-7 team" last year because they never lost faith in themselves. "It's a credit to the kids and the culture that we're all building here at Silver Lake," he said of the turnaround. "We hope to keep it rolling."

Silver Lake got contributions up and down the roster in this one. Some of the stars:

Sean Barry: The QB was 5 of 6 passing for 78 yards with completions of 34 yards (to Andrew Krevosky) and 29 yards (to Brendan MacMahon). Barry also scored the clinching TD, keeping his feet moving on a third-and-goal plunge from the 1 and spinning into the end zone for a 16-3 lead with 6:14 left. "We just told him to push the pile and get in there and put this game away," Killinger said.

Brendan McMahon: He kicked a pair of field goals -- a 31-yarder for a 10-0 lead in the third quarter and a 30-yarder to complete the scoring with 1:32 left. Whitman-Hanson (1-3) made a couple of fourth-down stops in the first half to keep the deficit 7-0 at the break, and the Lakers opted to play it safe a couple of times in the second half and rely on McMahon to get them points. Said Killinger: "Brendan has a strong leg; we saw it last year. He's made some huge improvements this year, so it's nice to have that in our back pocket."

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Sam Laidlaw: The power back had just 5 carries for 33 yards through the first three games but ran 10 times for 30 yards in this one, opening the scoring with a 4-yard TD run on the Lakers' first drive. A punishing blocker, Killinger said the staff spent the bye week looking for ways to get him more involved.

Nolan Dickinson/Wesley Griffin: Dickinson led all rushers with 91 yards on 12 carries. He was huge on the TD drive that ended with Barry's 1-yard plunge, ripping off gains of 31, 15 and 8 yards on consecutive attempts. Griffin, the team's leading rusher coming in, had 57 yards on 14 carries as the Lakers ran for 194 yards overall. "Hands in the grass, run the ball," Griffin said. "That's our playing style and we did it well."

Whitman-Hanson, which has dropped three straight since a Week 1 win over Pembroke, has scored just two total touchdowns during the slide. "We'll take a look at the film," coach Zack Botelho said about injecting some life into the offense. "We feel like we have (the right) package in. But I have to find a way to get the ball to our playmakers."

To their credit, the Panthers played hard all night on Homecoming. They were stingy defensively, led by Brady Markowski (9 tackles) and DeVaughn Marshall (2 tackles for loss, blocked PAT).

"I've been very impressed," Botelho said of his defense, especially the two fourth-down stops in the second quarter. "We had struggled on third and fourth down to start the season. It was a focus point for us. To see those kids on defense rise to that challenge and make those big plays was awesome – for our sideline, for our team. It's definitely something we can build on. We just have to find (that spark) on both sides of the ball."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Team turnaround: Last year's 0-7 start now a distant memory for 3-1 Silver Lake football