RallyNorth.net

Lawrence Lancers Football '14

Sat, Oct 04, 2014 01:30 PM @ Tewksbury
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Lawrence 7 0 0 0 7
Tewksbury 14 21 0 0 35

Big plays undo Lawrence

  • Currently 0.0 with 0 votes.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Saturday, October, 04 By Jeff Hamrick

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."

Game Statistics:

First Quarter

L — Luis Crispin 26 pass from Nelson Valerio (Eddie Cabrera kick) 7:43

T — Adam Gajjaoui 53 pass from Brett Morris (Miskell kick) 6:49

T — James Sullivan 68 run (Miskell kick) 4:14

Second Quarter

T — Sullivan 10 run (Miskell kick) 7:02

T — James Hirtle 52 run  (Miskell kick) 4:57

T — Hirtle 53 pass from Morris (Miskell kick) 1:35



INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: L (26-64) — Mikey Caban 3-49, Kenny Richards 4-8, Jacob Toledo 3-7, Angel Abrue 2-5, Valerio 12-0, Christian Valentin 1-(-2), Darryl Munoz 1-(-3); T (26-253) — Hirtle 6-128, Sullivan 9-113, Troy Carey 3-7, Ryan Morris 2-4, Tom Casey 4-4, Brian Nazaire 1-2, Steve Hamel 1-(-3)

PASSING: L — Valerio 18-31-177, 0 interceptions; T — Morris 5-9-137, 0

RECEIVING: L — Justin Rivera 7-45, Crispin 4-46, Caban 3-19, Valentin 1-44, Munoz 1-16, Luis Ferreira 1-6, Toledo 1-1; T — Gajjaoui 3-80, Hirtle 1-53, Sullivan 1-4

0 Story Comments