Selflessness shines as St. Augustine football gets first win, dedicates to coach Lancetta
Cherry Hill Courier-Post
BUENA VISTA – Pete Lancetta learned long ago not to be an "I" guy.
His former coach at St. Joseph, Chuck Donohue, always made sure the focus was on the players, and Lancetta, a 1980 graduate, has followed that example during his lengthy career.
Lancetta did his best to deflect any attention this week off himself as he led the St. Augustine Prep football program against Hammonton, a place he spent nearly three decades teaching and coaching.
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He focused on his kids, preparing a Hermits team that was stunned in Week 1 and desperately seeking a victory.
Lancetta's emotions were running high though, and his players saw it.
"We felt the emotion in him," junior Nasir Hill said. "He's got our backs, we know we had to have his. We had to get this 'W' for him no matter what."
They did just that as No. 7 St. Augustine took down the fifth-ranked Blue Devils 20-7 on Friday night.
"It wasn't a great week for me, I'm not going to lie," Lancetta said. "It wasn't. It just felt, when I saw it on the schedule, I was not very happy about it. I just felt a lot of pressure this week for a lot of different reasons, first and foremost we were 0-1 and they were 2-0 and they beat a team we lost to. They're a very good football team. They're tough, tough kids, but our kids responded today."
One week after the Hermits admitted to doing a little too much finger pointing during a setback to Millville, the team's selflessness shined through at LaRosa Field.
It was most evident at the quarterback position, where St. Augustine made a change after its opener, inserting junior Trey McLeer into the starting role.
Former starter Austin Leyman didn't balk though. He lined up at wide receiver and also played rover on defense. Both players got loads of encouragement throughout the week and they delivered against the Blue Devils.
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McLeer, in fact, made the play of the game.
On 4th-and-4 with 2:04 left, the Hermits clinging to a 14-7 advantage, McLeer fired a bullet to Hill for a 26-yard touchdown, their second scoring connection of the night, to seal the victory.
It was a pressure-packed moment, one where Lancetta wanted to call timeout but didn't have any, and instead started shouting "run it, run it" from the sideline as the play clock wound down.
"We knew we had to make a play," McLeer said. "It was fourth down, so I knew we had to make a play and win the game right there. I had to trust Nas and trust myself with it."
Fellow junior Kenny Selby also stepped up after a position switch this week.
Selby, who's always played cornerback, moved to safety for the first time in his career so Hill could play in the box and provide run support against Hammonton's vaunted Wing-T attack.
Selby wasn't 100 percent sure about the move, but his coaches and teammates told him to trust it.
They were right.
Selby had his first three-interception game at any level.
"It's just crazy," Selby said with a huge smile.
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His teammates weren't surprised in the least.
"I knew he was going to be a great player this year," Hill said. "I knew he was underrated, very underrated. He's on the come up this year. I can't wait till he gets big."
That's the kind of attitude and support Lancetta loves seeing. It's the same environment he helped build at Hammonton, It's a key reason the Hermits continue to have success and want to win for him.
"I'm not an 'I' guy. I never was," Lancetta said. "… It's we. It's always we. The fact that they wanted me to come out with a win as the head coach, it was very, very special. We have special kids here. We really do. Even though they come from different communities, it's not too much different than it was at Hammonton. In four years, we've kind of built a nice team concept and that's not easy when you're coming from different communities and you're stars in those communities. It's very similar to college, but we were able to do that. Unselfish, guys made moves and did whatever we needed them do this week and that's unselfish. Good kids man. Good kids. And Hammonton has good kids too."
► St. Augustine's defense ramped up in the second half, limiting the Blue Devils to just 60 yards over the final two quarters.
"Last week we're up (14-6) at halftime and we kind of laid back a little bit," McLeer said. "We took 'em for granted and we definitely talked about it in the locker room. We were like, we can't do last week. We got to come out strong, come out even better and we worked all offseason for this, so we just came out with a bang."
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Hammonton star tailback Jaiden Abrams rushed 30 times for 99 yards, but had just 20 yards on 11 attempts in the final half.
"Our kids are tough," Blue Devils coach Jim Raso said. "A lot of them are going both ways, they have some guys that are just going one way, a little bit fresher, and I think in the end that's what helped them out a lot."
► St. Augustine's Kanye Udoh ran for 83 yards and a score on 19 carries.
► Hammonton's lone touchdown came in the opening quarter, when Kyle Vandever found AJ Ryker on an 11-yard score on fourth down to even the game at 7-7.
"We definitely wanted to get the win for him tonight. Tonight was for coach Pete. We definitely played our hearts out for him."
– McLeer on the Hermits' motivation Friday.
Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post and The Daily Journal for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a Courier Post subscription.