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Lawrence falls at Billerica

Friday, November, 01 By Jeff Hamrick

BILLERICA – Looking to win a second straight game for the first time in a year, Lawrence continually struck big plays Friday night, scoring four times on plays of at least 50 yards.

But each time the Lancers grabbed the lead, host Billerica immediately responded en route to a 30-28 victory.

After spotting the Indians a 16-point lead, Lawrence used an 80-yard kickoff return by Manny Lara midway through the second quarter to avoid being shutout at halftime.

“I talked to the guys just about resiliency (at halftime trailing 16-6), and taking the fight to them,” Lawrence coach Rhandy Audate said. “We weren’t throwing the first punch. We were just sitting there, waiting around. We weren’t being physical on defense.

Offensively, we weren’t getting on our assignments. In the second half, I think we started executing on offense a lot better.”

That they surely did as quarterback Jacob Tamayo began spreading the field.

The senior quarterback first hit Isaias Richards on a deep fly route for a 69-yard scoring pass with 9:03 remaining. It was Tamayo’s longest touchdown strike of the season. A Richards conversion run narrowed the deficit to 16-14.

As the clock ran out in the third, Tamayo once again went deep, nailing Lara in stride for a 50-yard scoring connection and Tamayo’s conversion run provided a 22-16 lead entering the final period. Lara was on the receiving end on nine of Tamayo’s passes for 134 yards.

“He’s got a fighting spirit in him,” Audate said of his signal caller, who finished with 244 yards on 13-of-23 passing. “He even said, ‘Coach, I like this play,’ on that touchdown pass to Manny Lara. He’s a very cerebral kid. He saw something and we went with it.”

The first of three Lawrence fumbles on the Lancers’ ensuing possession set up Billerica with a short field and the Indians grabbed a 23-22 lead with 8:57 left on the second touchdown of the game by Brian Hamilton, who finished with a game-high 201 yards on 26 carries.

But Lawrence (2-6) needed only three plays to once again grab an advantage on a 56-yard scamper down the sideline by Gianni Vargas.

The lead, however, lasted only 48 seconds as Hamilton once again found paydirt on a 45-yard run for game’s final points with 6:28 remaining.

Lawrence had two more possessions, but fumbles ended each drive.

“We’re still in it for the long haul,” Audate said. “We’re not giving up on the season. Guys aren’t quitting on us. We still have guys coming out every day to practice wanting to get better. We do want to win games here, and we want to win more.

“There are no such things as moral victories. You come off and get pats on the back, but we want to get to the point where we don’t make those two turnovers at the end of the game.”