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Down 26-6, Lawrence rallies, stuns Haverhill

HAVERHILL — Lawrence High's football championship pulse faded into the night on at least three occasions last night.

Somehow, some way, this morning, the Lancers count themselves among the MVC Division 2 living, stunning Haverhill High, 33-32, last night here at Trinity Stadium.

Lawrence trailed, 26-6, in the third.

The Lancers had their hearts ripped out when Blaine Joia picked off a Nate Baez pass and raced 101 yards in the other direction, hurdling Baez on the way for a TD and a 32-20 advantage with nine minutes to play in the fourth.

And somehow Lawrence found a way to stay alive in the title chase, right on Tewksbury's tail.

 The Lancers, who snapped a five-game losing streak, now must beat Dracut and Methuen and hope for either the Hillies or Rangers to trip up the Redmen.

"Nobody thought we could do this," said Lawrence senior Marionel Garcia, whose second fumble recovery of the night proved to be the turning point in the fourth. "We had to prove them wrong, and now we can still do it."
Classmate Jiovanny Vasquez added, "We've had a tough season, but we still have a chance (to win the league)."

For the Hillies, who came into this one at 3-4 but controlled their own destiny in the league chase, it was an agonizing final 23 minutes.

Every time they were in position for the kill, Lawrence escaped.

And while Joia's highlight-reel pick-six negated the first Haverhill fumble, the second — on a kick return — was lethal.

"I just went head-first into the pile," said Garcia. "Justin Flores had the strip and (Demitrio Leonardo) ripped it out of their guys' arms. I saw it right there and dove on it."

Lawrence, down 32-26, took over on the Haverhill 15.

Baez misfired on two incompletions, but moved the chains with a 13-yard hookup to trusty Joel Rodriguez.

The senior QB dove for the pylon on a roll right to knot the score at 32-32 with under six minutes left.
Lancer coach Mike Yameen needed a timeout to debate the PAT.

He had "Super Seve" Kelvin Severino if he opted for the boot. Severino's previous two kicks on the night weren't pretty. One spun wide left. The other smacked into the hamstrings of one of his offensive linemen.
But eschewing a two-point bid, Yameen gave his senior one more chance. Severino was true, splitting the uprights perfectly.

"It's been a while. I feel like we've never made one," said Severino. "But tonight we needed one, and it was one we needed to win it. We had to have faith."

Each team had its share of playmakers on the night.

Baez threw for 203 yards, while Jiovanny Vasquez led the ground attack with 62 yards on nine yards and caught passes of 26 and 37 yards.

Chance Brady stung the Lancer defense with 120 yards and a pair of TDs on only 18 carries. Taylor Sullivan played an immense defensive game with 14 tackles and blocked a punt which teammate Anthony Morris scooped for a TD.

"We're 2-0 in the MVC (small), and we're playing for pride," said Severino. "We'll do what we have to do, and maybe we can be undefeated in the league."