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Baez, Encarnacion help Lawrence snap streak

Friday, November, 11 By Jeff Hamrick
Staff writer

METHUEN – Coming off a tough loss that knocked them out of the MVC Division 2 title race, Lawrence coach Mike Yameen let his players choose the team’s first play from scrimmage last night.

With the kind of result they got, it might be a good thing to let the Lancers have a say in city elections.

A 42-yard scoring toss less than a minute into the game provided the Lancers a lead they wouldn’t surrender and Lawrence went on to a convincing 24-7 victory over Methuen at Nicholson Stadium. It was the first time the Lancers beat the Rangers in 15 games since 1989.

The quick strike was the first of three scoring passes quarterback Nathan Baez and receiver Mario Encarnacion hooked up for.

“”We decided as a team,” Encarnacion said of the play call. “In the pregame, Coach let us take a vote whether we wanted to run the vertical, and we all voted yes.”

While he let his team select the opening play, Yameen might have hedged a little bit in how he put the query to his team.

“We talked about it watching film,” Yameen said of Encarnacion’s post route. “Our coaches did a great job this week. Coach (Jason) Fielding saw a hole in their defense and he goes, ‘We can get it once and once only. You want to open the game with it.’ ”

While that particular play was only good the one time, Baez ran screen passes to perfection on three other occasions. The first resulted in a 29-yard touchdown pass to Encarnacion. With 47 seconds left in the second quarter, Baez and Kelvin Severino combined on a 35-yard scoring screen. The Lancers’ final score was another wide-receiver screen to Encarnacion for 44 yards with 2:18 remaining.

Methuen (2-8 overall, 0-3 conference) averted a shutout when Eric Lacroix found Corey Shepherd on a 15-yard scoring pass early in the fourth. Despite picking up 18 first downs, the Rangers were stymied by the Lancer defense. Methuen averaged only 3.5 yards on its 63 plays, including 18 incompletions.

Winning for just the second time in eight weeks, Lawrence (4-6, 3-1) rebounded from a difficult 6-2 loss to Dracut the previous week.

“It was all about pride,” Baez said. “It was about the city of Lawrence and bouncing back from that tough loss. Yeah, it’s hard knowing we’re not going to the playoffs, but it’s still great trying to get a 5-6 record.”