 High School Football:
Lenape Assaults Cherokee With Impressive Win
Friday, November 3, 2000
By Greg Alvord
SJSports Staff Writer
The Cherokee Chiefs and Lenii Lenape Indians squared off in a key football game at Evesham on Friday night. The Indians would get the best of the Chiefs, scoring an impressive 45-21 victory. This was Lenape's first victory on Cherokee turf in 12 years and couldn't of come at a more opportune time. The Indians were fighting for their playoff lives. With the win, they would be in and a lose would have been tossed out of the playoff picture. The Indians responded in grand fashion. Like bare knuckle greats Charles Bronson in "Hard Times", Phil Beddo in "Every which way but loose", and Bob Barker versus "Happy Gilmore", the Indians padded up and got ready for battle and battle they did.
 Lenape began their assault on the very first play of the ballgame. Speed burner Lamarr Watkins took a pitch left and behind beautiful blocking, raced 65-yards untouched for the touchdown. A missed extra point gave the Indians a 6-0 lead. Cherokee would come right back and score on their next possession. Mixing up the run with the pass, the Chiefs would take a 7-6 lead when Kevin Crane hit a slanting Bobby Derkert for a 15-yard score. The packed house was just settling in when the Indians struck again. On the first play of their next possession, Lenape quarterback Dennis Morrone (who had a tremendous day) hooked up with Ian Moore (150 yard receiving and 2 TDs) on a 71-yard touchdown pass that looked like it was taken right out of the St. Louis Rams playbook. The two-point conversion was good and the fired up Indians held a 14-7 lead. From this point on, the Cherokee Chiefs seemed to be doomed. With the Indians playing for their playoff lives, the Chiefs were about to get scalped. Lenape would again call the number of Watkins (rushing for 240-yards and 3 TDs). Running like the second coming of Barry Sanders, Watkins would burst 75-yards for another Lenape score and a 20-7 advantage. The tremendous, bruising play of the Lenape line, allowed for this big night by Watkins.
 Cherokee would not get any closer on this night. The Indians would use their offensive punch to score throughout this game. Morrone would hook up with Moore on an 11-yard pass. Watkins would glide in again from 53-yards out. Morrone would do his best, old Randal Cunningham 1989 scramblin, ramblin impression to score from 32-yards out. Defensive back Marquice Morton would pick off a Cherokee pass and race, in Michael Johnson type speed, 65-yards for an interception return touchdown.
In the end it was Lenape winning by a 45-21 score. Next up are the playoffs for these two warriors (along with brother school Shawnee). The Lenii Lenape Indians hope to bottle up some of their offensive fireworks and light them up next week, and maybe sell a little to the Chiefs, as the crème dela of the football season hit us...The Playoffs.
Photos by Art Redd
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