ROGER LALONDE / Staff

Lely Quarterback Dennis Marcelin breaks around the left end as he gains a first down in Lely's 44-42 win over Palmetto Ridge. Marcelin scored on a 56-yard jaunt on another run.

ROGER LALONDE / Staff

The Lely band and color guard gave an outstanding performance at the Lely-Palmetto Ridge football game on Friday.

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Lely makes the short trip across I-75 for its first Class 3A-14 game against Golden Gate Friday at 7:30.

The game pits the haves and the have nots.

Lely has an incredible runner in Darian Hall. The Titans do not.

Lely scored 44 points in its last win over Palmetto Ridge. Golden Gate gave up 61 points to Gulf Coast and has scored just one touchdown in its last two games.

“Lely is good, probably in the top two in Collier County,” says Dave Tanner, the Titans coach. (Lely Coach) Steve Pricer has done a good job in putting the team together.”

On the other hand, “We need work everywhere,” Tanner says. ”We are so far behind that we just need total improvement. We haven’t established a football tradition here. We need to get out of the easy-to-loose mind set and start winning.”

The Trojans won a wild 44-42 victory against Palmetto Ridge last Friday at Lely. The game was won on a 27-yard field goal with two seconds left.

While the win was good, Pricer said his team made too many mistakes.

“We have practiced real hard this week, looking to be more efficient with the ball and playing better on defense.”

On offense the answer continues to be Darian Hall.

It seems that when in doubt, or a big play is needed, Hall carries the mail. In three games he has 725 yards rushing and his all-purpose yards top the 1,000 mark.

Lely Quarterback Dennis Marcelin played a sound game throwing the football, but missed catches by receivers plagued Lely. Marcelin also contributed a 56-yard touchdown run.

“I though Dennis did much better in managing the offense,” Pricer said. “He is getting a little thicker skinned when it comes to some small things that used to get him upset.”

Though a senior, Marcelin played defense, except for a few snaps at the end of last season.

Pricer looks to give the ball more to running back Frank Pugh.

“We need to get him more carries to help Darian,” Pricer said. “We don’t want to be a one back team, like we were last year with Fortinel (Faustin). He did a fantastic job, but we want to find the backup for Darian.”

Erroll Boyd stood out on defense in the Palmetto Ridge game.

“Erroll made 16 tackles, one tackle for a loss and made an interception,” Pricer said. “He had a great game, even though he is bothered by a banged up ankle.”

He said the team is a little banged up, including Hall.

“The thing the guys are starting to realize is that they can play with little bumps and bruises,” Pricer said.

While on paper it looks like Lely should win easily, Pricer said the Trojans aren’t taking the game lightly.

“This is our fist district game and it is very important to get started on the right track,” he said.