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Second half surge gets Dracut past Lawrence

Friday, November, 06 By Chuck Frye
Staff writer

LAWRENCE — The effort and attitude was there. Lawrence just couldn’t back it up with points.

The Lancers stood toe-to-toe with defending Division 2 champion Dracut last night. But as the smoke from a factory fire in the area cleared Veterans Memorial Stadium in the second half, so did the obstacles blocking the Middies in an eventual 21-7 victory.

Dracut (7-2) has seven points in the Merrimack Valley Conference Small and is tied with resurgent Methuen for the top spot. The two teams will most likely play for a postseason berth when they meet, in Dracut,  Thanksgiving morning.

With a three-game sweep its only route to the playoffs, Lawrence (3-6, five MVC points) benefitted and suffered from the urgency. A speedy defense, sometimes played with just one down lineman and one pass rusher, kept the Middies off balance and forced a pair of first-half turnovers. But the offense seemed jittery while suffering three turnovers of its own, two coming right after the defense’s takeaways.

"It was very sloppy for both teams in the first half,” said Lawrence head coach Mike Yameen. “I think the intensity might have spurred that on.”

The mind-set helped after the first of two touchdowns from Tom Szymanski (game-high 119 yards rushing) in the second quarter. Lancer defensive end Harvey Blanco stormed through and blocked the point-after kick, which lifted the squad to its best drive of the evening.

Highlighted by a 29-yard romp by Blanco (65 yards) with savvy cutbacks that left defenders in his wake, Lawrence moved 49 yards in six plays. From the Middie 14, quarterback Nick Elwell used 6-5 receiver Mike Calzetta’s height to full advantage, outleaping 5-11 defensive back Jake Malandrino for his 10th touchdown catch of the year. Junior Kelvin Severino nailed the point-after to give the Lancers a 7-6 lead with 4:13 left until halftime.

But from there, Lawrence’s offense disappeared with three punts, an interception and turnover on downs capping its final possessions. More importantly, returning running back Francis Nova (17 carries for 44 yards) was felled again with a left knee injury midway through the final period.

"Having Francis back was a big, big boost,” Yameen said, “but offensive consistency has been an issue the past four or five weeks.”

Dracut buckled down behind Szymanski’s second TD and a rollout toss by quarterback Matt Silva (86 yards rushing) to Rakeen Shepherd with 4:29 left in the game to lock up the victory.

"This is the latest in the season when we’ve had something to play for,” Yameen concluded. “We were normally playing for pride now but (last night) we had something at stake. It was a good feeling, but now we have to put it aside and get ready for Methuen (on the road Friday).”