By Steve ruman

sports@vindy.com

NILES

One quick glance at the box score tells you that Lakeview junior Drew Munno had a big game Friday night against Niles.

Munno pulled in six passes for 130 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown.

However, it was a Munno play which doesn’t appear on the stat sheet that proved the be the biggest of them all. The result was a Lakeview 21-20 road win over the Red Dragons.

Both teams now stand at 3-2.

With 6:23 remaining in the game, Niles scored a touchdown on a Tyler Srbinovich 1-yard run to draw to within a point of Lakeview. The Dragons elected to go for two, and on the play Srbinovich raced to his left, where he appeared to have an open field in front of him. However, Munno came up to make a shoestring tackle on the Niles quarterback, stopping him short of the goal line.

Niles made things interesting in the final seconds of play. The Dragons just missed on a 47-yard pass to the end zone with seven seconds left. Then on the final play of the contest, Jatise Garrison pulled in an interception to seal the win for the Bulldogs.

“It all comes from practice, and the coaches, who teach me to read the plays and go as hard as I can” Munno said about his game-saving tackle. “I knew the play was coming because they ran the same exact play before that. I just had to make a play.

“I just went as hard as I could. I was one of 11 guys out there doing my job. It was a total team effort.”

Early on, it was all Bulldogs. Lakeview needed just four plays on the game’s opening possession to score its first touchdown. The big play in the series was a Zach Rogers-to-Garrison 43-yard pass. That set up an Evan Adair eight-yard run to put Lakeview up 7-0.

Midway through the second period, the Bulldogs took possession at their own one, and marched 99 yards in eight plays to go up 14-0. Rogers (13-of-24, 250 yards) connected with Munno on a 39-yard strike to cap the drive.

Niles responded on the ensuing possession, and cut its deficit to 14-6 just before halftime on a Srbinovich seven-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Day.

Niles tied the game at 14-14 in the third quarter on a Robbie Savin 12-yard run. Lakeview regained the lead early in the fourth quarter when Evan Adair pulled in a screen pass, but shook off several defenders to race 41 yards to paydirt.

Again, Niles would answer with an 11-play, 80-yard drive — all on the ground — capped by a Srbinovich one-yard run. Srbinovich finished with a game-high 163 rushing yards on 32 carries.

However, with Niles down by a point, Red Dragons coach Brian Shaner opted to go for two.

“Our long snapper was cramped and we lost our holder on the opening kickoff,” Shaner explained. “We tried one (PAT) and it was a debacle. We were a shoestring tackle away from taking the lead, and hats off to Lakeview for making the play.

“It was just a well-played game by both sides. Lakeview was well-coached as they always are. We need to figure out how to put four strong quarters together. For some reason, we’re just a second half team.”

Lakeview coach Tom Pavlansky was proud of the way his club responded from last week’s loss to Hubbard.

“This shows our character, it shows that these guys care about being a Lakeview Bulldog,” Pavlansky said. “They care about each other.”

“I’m just proud of the way we bounced back. That’s what football teaches you. It teaches you to bounce back and I give all the credit to my staff and my guys on the field.”