By Tom Williams

The Tigers are 3-0 after beating Lowellville but South Range awaits.

LOWELLVILLE — Three weeks into the high school football season, Springfield already has topped its win total from last season.

“It’s amazing,” senior quarterback Matt Evans said after Friday’s 24-0 win over Lowellville. “Being 2-8 last season and being able to surpass that is huge for us. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.”

Next up for the Tigers (3-0) will be their rival — South Range (2-1) — in their first Inter Tri-County League Tier One contest.

Asked about upcoming preparations, Tigers safety Jim Zubick said this week “is going to be huge. Practice is going to be crazy. We’re going to be flying around.”

Three touchdowns in the game’s first 12 minutes, 10 seconds had the Tigers soaring against the Rockets (0-3).

“It’s a great feeling,” Zubick said. “I’m not used to it, apparently, because of that bad [2007] season.

Evans capped the Tigers’ first possession by tossing a 12-yard scoring pass to Zubick in the end zone. Bryan Visingardi’s extra-point put the Tigers ahead, 7-0.

Zubick bailed Evans out on the Tigers’ next offensive play. Under substantial pressure from Rockets defenders, Evans flung the ball as far as he could downfield.

Zubick held up for the ball then pulled it in for a 49-yard reception.

“That was play-action and Lowellville did a great job blitzing,” Evans said. “I just had to run and throw. It happened real quick. I honestly didn’t see [the reception].”

Zubick admitted he wasn’t quite aware of just how much trouble Evans was in.

”I saw him roll out and I was hoping he saw me,” Zubick said. “I was a little nervous — I had to look where the defenders were. Hopefully, no one was coming up [from behind] to smash me.”

Four plays later, Travis Richey scored on a 12-yard run to double the lead.

With the Rockets approaching midfield, Coach Mike Palumbo rolled the dice on fourth-and-2. Quarterback Joe DePasquale scrambled to the sideline and was stopped inches short of the first down.

“They have talent and you can tell how well they work together,” Palumbo said. ”Coach [Sean] Guerriero utilizes his talent very well. He’s got the program in the right direction.”

On the first play of the second quarter, the Tigers’ lead grew to 21-0 when Evans hit running back Dylon DeJane with a dump pass over the middle and DeJane shed a tackler for a 39-yard score.

Visingardi’s 36-yard field goal completed the scoring.

In the second half, the Rockets took offensive chances four times on fourth down, converting two of them. That helped them keep the Tigers offense on the sidelines.

“I thought we were moving the ball fairly well,” Palumbo said. “I’m confident in our quarterback Joe Desquale.”

Palumbo said the Rockets “had to pass a lot more than we’re used to. We have a freshman center [Bryan Schiraldi] and a senior guard [Cory Privette] who are the anchor of our line. If it’s fourth and short, we’re running behind those two. We have the faith to do that.”

Springfield ran just three plays in the third quarter, losing 2 yards. DePasquale completed 11-of-24 passes for 62 yards.

Evans completed 5-of-10 tosses for 102 yards, while Richey rushed for 99 yards on 19 carries.

The Tigers limited the Rockets to 118 yards of offense.

“As a whole, we did well,” Guerriero said. “The saying we’ve been using right now is ‘alignment, assignment, tackle,’ and our kids are coming through on that.

“Swarming to the ball as a team has been a great accomplishment,” Guerriero said. “Lowellville does a god job with a lot of different formations, which makes it confusing.”

williams@vindy.com