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Greater Lawrence shuts out Triton in opener

Friday, September, 07 By Chuck Frye
Correspondent

BYFIELD | Greater Lawrence Tech stepped up in more ways than one.

Playing Triton of the Cape Ann League meant the Commonwealth Conference Reggies were moving up one division in competition, and playing the season opener in Byfield meant dealing with this challenge on the road.

But more importantly, it was the mission of the senior class to take command and erase the memories of unsatisfactory seasons past. With a 14-0 shutout that was even more convincing than the final score indicated, Greater Lawrence served notice that it will be a force to be reckoned with.

"I told the seniors at the beginning of the year that you've got to put everyone on your backs and carry them through these 11 games," Reggie head coach Tony Sarkis said. "It showed (last night)."

Two seniors in particular were the flashpoints in victory and will be the keys to any success Greater Lawrence experiences this year.

Defensively, Isaac Sosa was the exclamation point on a forceful effort that yielded a stingy 96 total yards, swiping a pair of Triton passes deep in Reggie territory to kill potential scoring drives. He also added a two-point conversion reception to his highlights.

The first came early in the second quarter when defensive end Victor Sosa got up in quarterback Matt Emerzian's grill and forced a high arcing pass that Isaac Sosa grabbed at the 10 yard-line and advanced to his own 29, keeping the contest scoreless at the time.

Early in the third quarter, nursing its 14-0 advantage, Isaac Sosa came up big again when the Vikings marched to the Reggie 16. Blanketing the Triton receiver, Isaac outleapt the opponent five yards deep in the end zone and took possession.

Adding to the frustration of Emerzian (0 for 9 passing) was sophomore Angel Rivera, who had two pressure rushes that created a fourth down incompletion and forced a Viking punt. From there it was up to the offense and elusive workhorse Nate Adames to come through. After an exhaustive first quarter running everywhere and gaining nothing, Adames focused his efforts to positive effect and ripped up the Vikings for 168 yards on 31 carries and both Greater Lawrence scores.

"I didn't really follow my blocks very well early," Adames explained, "but then I noticed holes opening up, started to follow my blocks. It felt really good."

As the runner or receiver for 36 of Greater Lawrence's 47 offensive plays, the senior was a marked man that Triton couldn't stop. He carried the last six times on the Reggies' initial scoring drive, wrapping a 71-yard march with a 19-yard Sportscenter-level scamper down the left sideline to the end zone with 3:06 left in the first half.

Then after a crushing 34-yard scamper on the second play of the second half that "started our drive and really set the tone for the second half," Adames' got four of the next five touches. Two yards from paydirt, quarterback Jonathan Delossantos waited to the last second on an option pitch, clearing the left corner for Adames to use for the game's final tally four minutes into the third quarter.

The Reggies finished with 267 total offensive yards as Delossantos contributed 58 yards on just five carries.

"Playing a Cape Ann League team was a step up and we wanted to do that to challenge ourselves," Sarkis concluded. This could be a great indicator of how we're going to do. We'll see."