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Lowell flattens Lawrence in rivalry renewed

Friday, September, 25 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

LOWELL - Lawrence's Merrimack Valley Conference bliss lasted absolutely one week.
The Lancers stumbled and Lowell High made them pay repeatedly, pinning a 40-34 loss on Lawrence, which only a week earlier had returned to conference play by knocking off Tewksbury.
"This is MVC football and you can't make mistakes like that," said Lancer coach Mike Yameen. "It was a pretty undisciplined game on our part, with the fumbles, dropped passes, blown coverages and the penalties.
"We can't come out and make mistakes and turnovers like this against good teams."
Now 1-2, Lawrence committed three excruciating facemask penalties late in the fourth to blunt its own momentum and pave the FieldTurf for the game-clinching insurance TD.
"I want to see the film on that (last one)," said Yameen of the flag that nullified a brilliant tackle in the backfield by Harvey Blanco. "But it never should have come to that."
The penalties (8 for 82), three turnovers and three different blown coverages in the secondary spoiled what might have been a special night for Lawrence, which hadn't played against Lowell since Thanksgiving morning 1997.
Clearly, knotted 12-12 at halftime, victory was there for the taking.
But it was Lowell, not the Lancers, who claimed it, as QB Kyle Edwards hit Josh McGlauflin for three third-quarter TD passes all on post patterns down the middle of the field.
Trailing 33-12, the Lancers showed some serious heart, rallying behind senior QB Nick Elwell (13 of 22 for 190 yards) for a pair of quick scores.
But Lawrence needed a stop defensively midway through the fourth and didn't get one with Lowell chewing up over six minutes and punching in the decisive score with only 2:01 to play.
Senior Michael Calzetta caught two TDs and a two-point pass in a six-catch, 70-yard effort. Harvey Blanco caught four balls for 76 yards, running for one TD and grabbing a two-point pass of his own.
Lawrence, which gave up 40 points in an opening night loss before holding Tewksbury to just 8 points last week, had better shore up the defense quickly. The Lancers face a football steamroller in Chelmsford Friday night.

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• Lowell flattens Lawrence in rivalry renewed