Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lawrence | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Tewksbury | 14 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
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."
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
70-71 N Parish Rd
Lawrence, MA 01841
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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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