LAWRENCE — After five straight Lowell losses, two of which he missed with an injury, standout senior Shy Cullen was not about to be denied.
The Syracuse-bound back staked the Red Raiders to a 14-7 halftime lead and then, after a gallant Lawrence comeback tied the game in regulation, got the key conversion run that provided a 29-27 overtime victory.
Read More »LAWRENCE — In his wildest, most fantastic dreams, Lawrence’s Jacob Toledo never could have imagined his high school football career would end so perfectly.
“Not at all,” Toledo said with a smile from ear to ear. “No way,”
Read More »LAWRENCE — When the week began Lawrence was disappointed it was relegated to the field of non playoff teams in the Division 1 North ranks despite coming on the heels of two dominating victories.
By yesterday afternoon's end, however, the biggest disappointment were the Lancers themselves.
Instead of demonstrating it belonged among the region's top eight teams, Lawrence proved unable to overcome neither the weather nor Acton-Boxborough as the visiting Colonials walked away with an easy 43-8 victory.
"We just got out played," Lawrence coach Mike Yameen succinctly said.
A Dual County Conference member, A-B certainly didn't resemble the squad that lost three of its final four, dooming the Colonials into the non playoff bracket. A-B (4-4) barely needed 11 minutes before opening a 21-point lead.
Lawrence (4-4) struggled the opening period, losing a total of 43 yards on its six rushing attempts. — a mark a passing attack that netted only 21 yards of its own couldn't overcome.
"They didn't do anything different than what we saw on tape," said quarterback Nelson Valerio, who would be sacked six times on the afternoon. "We just didn't get the job done."
The Lancers did put up two points after A-B's third touchdown when Darryl Munoz blocked the conversion kick attempt, scooped up the ball and raced almost 80 yards. It was the second time this season the Colonials have given up points on a blocked conversion kick.
The Lancers followed up that good fortune, putting together they're best possession. With Valerio connecting on four of his seven attempts and Kenny Richards handling the ground game, Lawrence capped a 10-play drive on a 5-yard Richards run that cut the deficit to 21-8 with 5:09 left before intermission.
But all hope died when A-B took the second-half kick and went off on a drive that lasted 6:47 and consisted of one successful fourth-down conversion and a pair of third-downs as well.
Lawrence picked up only two first downs the final two quarters, and compiled a negative 5 yards on 22 rushing attempts in the game. One week after becoming the region's most prolific career passer, Valerio was harried into a 12-for-24 day that was good for only 103 yards.
The Lancers were hurt in the punting game as one bad snap resulted in a 32-yard loss and another led to a blocked punt. On the receiving end, a muffed return set up A-B with another short field. Three of A-B's seven scoring drives required 12 yards or fewer — in fact, one possession lost 11 yards but still provided a 32-yard Brendan Duhamel field goal.
Despite surrendering 43 points, the Lancers defense had its moments as Manual Vlaun and David Morales both had sacks. Those two also led a front seven that recorded seven tackles for loss.
Read More »LAWRENCE — Lawrence High had many opportunities ... to give in.
Two big penalties and fumble inside the North Andover 5-yard line killed any chance of the Lancers putting points on the board in the first half.
Read More »TEWKSBURY —
Take away 6 minutes of yesterday's first half, and Lawrence might have
had a chance against the defending Division 3 state champs.
But Tewksbury only needed that exact time of possession to score all its
points in a most confounding 35-7 victory over the visiting Lancers.
If you skip forward and scan the second half stats, you'd think Lawrence
might have taken the Redmen to the wire. But allowing only 73 total
yards after intermission was akin to closing the proverbial barn door a
tad late.
"We moved the ball offensively a little bit in the first half, but
defensively we didn't play well," Lawrence coach Mike Yameen said. "We
had a little talk in the locker room and (the defense) responded and
played well in the second half. But like I told them we have to have
that sense of urgency for 44 more minutes. Not for 22 and the game's out
of hand."
Lawrence (2-3) appeared capable of a major upset, going 79 yards on the
opening possession and taking a 7-0 lead on a 26-yard scoring pass from
Nelson Valerio to Luis Crispin.
But that only seemed to motivate the Redmen, who scored on all five
first-half possessions — only one of which actually ran plays in
Lawrence territory.
"We've been having problems all years defensively," Yameen said. "That
just puts pressure on the offense. You give up that many scores and you
have to change your whole offensive game plan."
The assault began with a 53-yard scoring pass from Brett Morris to Adam
Gajjaoui, and continued with a 68-yard James Sullivan run.
On its third possession, Tewksbury ran the only five plays required on
Lawrence's side of the 50 to up its advantage to 21-7 on another
Sullivan scamper. The fourth possession resulted in a 52-yard James
Hirtle touchdown and was followed by a 53-yard Morris-to-Hirtle pass.
When the dust settled on the first two quarters, Tewksbury had compiled
317 yards offense on just 16 plays (19.8-yard average). And it's five
possessions averaged only 72 seconds.
Lawrence showed its offensive skill on several occasions, but despite
starting its first three second-half possessions at the 50 or better,
were unable to find the end zone.
"We had some breakdowns in the line, and against a team that good, you
can't have that," Yameen said. "This league is good. You can't make
mistakes like that and expect to win these games."
Despite losing each of its past two division games, Lawrence still
remains active in the playoff chase with games remaining Friday against
North Andover, which amassed only 135 yards total offense to Tewksbury a
week earlier, before closing the regular season at Billerica.
"I just told the boys next week essentially is a playoff game," Yameen
said. "We have to win two. That will put us at 4-3, and I think we can
get in with a little help at 4-3."
Despite their difficult opening, the Lancers did make an impression on at least one coach.
"That (first-half production) is pretty good," Tewksbury coach Brian
Aylward said of his squad. "But at the same time, it speaks to what
Lawrence can do on offensive. We've played some teams that may get more
respect than Lawrence, but at the same time, they pose a lot of
problems.
"They have good skills. Obviously, the (Valerio) is the leader of the
pack but they have plenty of good receivers and good schemes. They did
some really good things against us in different sets. I give (the
Lancers) some credit."
HAVERHILL — Samie Al-Ziab’s face showed the wear and tear of a tough afternoon, as he took a moment to wipe away the blood running from the gash above his nose.
“This was a long, hot, tough game, but it was sure worth it,” said Al-Ziab with a smile. “We wanted this one so bad after getting embarrassed two weeks ago. Today we got to show the team that we are.”
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Team | League | Overall | PF-PA |
---|---|---|---|
Central Catholic | 8-0-0 | 9-2-0 | 375-214 |
Tewksbury | 3-1-0 | 3-1-0 | 96-30 |
North Andover | 5-2-0 | 8-4-0 | 260-155 |
Andover | 5-4-0 | 6-5-0 | 378-288 |
Haverhill | 4-4-0 | 7-4-0 | 227-196 |
Lawrence | 4-5-0 | 5-6-0 | 250-338 |
Methuen | 4-5-0 | 4-7-0 | 174-295 |
Lowell | 2-3-0 | 2-3-0 | 65-133 |
Chelmsford | 0-3-0 | 0-3-0 | 90-120 |
Billerica | 0-3-0 | 0-3-0 | 64-109 |
Dracut | 0-5-0 | 0-5-0 | 93-154 |
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