By greg gulas

sports@vindy.com

Boardman

It’s been either feast or famine for the Boardman Spartans this season.

Boardman feasted on Federal League foe Massillon Perry on Friday night.

Isiah Lyle rushed for three touchdowns and John Babos rushed and passed for two more scores as the Spartans (4-2, 2-0) defeated the Panthers, 42-7, to remain perfect in league play.

Through Boardman’s first five games, the Spartans had outscored opponents 117-60 in their three wins and been outscored 89-7 in their two losses, including a 52-7 setback last week to Fitch.

“There was a lot of soul-searching after last week so it was nice to see the effort that we put forth on both sides of the ball tonight,” Boardman coach Mark D’Eramo said. “Our defense came up with some big stops and some key three-and-outs, which allowed our offense to cash in on those opportunities.”

Boardman’s Doug Brandt picked off Adron Bealer at midfield and returned the ball 43 yards to the Perry 7-yard line on the second play from scrimmage.

Lyle then scored the first of his three touchdowns two plays later to give Boardman an early 7-0 lead.

“I have to give all of the credit to my offensive line because they opened holes for our backs all night long,” Lyle said. “We knew exactly what we had to do and then went out and executed our game plan. To bounce back like we did tonight was big.”

The Spartans’ defense then held Perry (3-3, 1-1) to a three-and-out and on the second play of Boardman’s second series. Babos hit Jamar Steverson with a 58-yard scoring strike for a 14-0 lead.

“We watched a lot of film all week and saw some tendencies,” Babos said. “To score 42 points tonight and hold them to 17 a week after they scored 56 on North Canton Hoover was big.”

After Perry’s Hayden Smith kicked a 21-yard field goal at the 3:22 mark, Boardman settled for a 14-3 lead after the first 12 minutes of play.

When Braxton Berry found the end zone from four yards away a little over two minutes into the second period, Perry cut the Boardman lead to 14-10.

The Panthers got no closer. Lyle added his final two scores, the first at 5:39 and the second with just 36 seconds left in the half. Both were 2-yard runs for a 28-10 at halftime.

“Four plays into the game and we were already down 14-0. At 14-10 we were still in the game so you have to give Boardman credit because they made plays when they had to,” Panthers coach Keith Boedicker said.

“We played poorly in all three areas tonight and made six or seven critical errors offensively in the first half. They handled us physically,” he added.