Football
By: Steve Feitl
The Lawrence High School football field had already rushed the field at Hightstown Friday night when game officials put a damper on the party.
Even though the Cardinal defense had stopped the Rams at the 25-yard line as time appeared to expire with Lawrence up, 22-21, a referee had seen the Hightstown ball carrier call for a time-out with just two seconds left. There would be one more play.
Luckily for the Cards (2-0), senior Jason Arnold broke through the line on the ensuing 42-yard field goal attempt, blocking the kick and sealing the Lawrence 22-21 victory.
The seesaw battle was everything both coaching staffs anticipated prior to the game – a true gritty football game. Lawrence coach Rob Radice was happy to come out on the winning end of the decision.
"I couldn’t be prouder of the kids," he said. "We believe in ourselves and we believe that respect is something that we have to go out and earn. But good teams find a way to win these games."
It was game that saw momentum swing several times. In fact, it had swung back in favor of the Rams (0-2) in the third quarter and they appeared to be on their way to their first victory of the season right up until Cardinal back-up quarterback Sean Gliem connected with split end Isaac Johnson for a 57-yard strike. Johnson caught the ball around midfield, sprinted to the Cardinal sideline which he tight-roped all the way down to the Hightstown 7-yard line with just over a minute and a half left in the game. On first down, the Cardinal pitched left to sophomore back Orlando Kane, who was stopped for a 3-yard loss. On the next play however, Kane would make up for it, trying his luck on the right side, diving from the 3-yard line into the end zone.
Kane’s touchdown run brought the Cardinals back to within one point, 21-20. Rather than play safe and call on place-kicker Ryan Dunn to convert the point-after attempt, Radice went for the two-point conversion.
"The way the game was going, I thought the two-point conversion would get us the momentum we needed to pull out the game," Radice explained. "I have tremendous faith in our line and I have tremendous faith in No. 9 (Kane). We had already battled back to 21-20. I felt we had nothing to lose at that point."
The Cardinal gamble paid off as Kane ran the same exact play and burned the Rams, beating everyone to the right corner of the end zone and putting Lawrence back on top, 22-21.
Kane noted after the game that the game-winning play was one well known by the Cardinal offense. He said the team practices that particular play multiple times each practice.
It was another stellar performance for the emerging sophomore. Aside from his game-winning touchdown and two-point conversion, Kane also ran for a 13-yard touchdown and caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from starting quarterback Armando Rosario. It was an especially sweet night for Kane, who did it in the town he grew up in.
"I was here (in Hightstown) for 11 years," Kane said. "It was hard playing against all these guys I know. But I’m on another team now."
And while Kane supplied to finishing touch to the scoring, it was the Cardinal special teams that put the offense in prime field position time in and time out. The special teams blocked two field goals, one point-after attempt and one punt, and saw Jeff Dunn recover a fumble on another punt.
Arnold earned recognition from the 12th Man Touchdown Club for his blocked field goal attempt. It was the second-straight week a Cardinal special teams player has earned such recognition. Kane was the recipient last week after running back a punt for a touchdown against West Windsor-Plainsboro North.
After the game, Radice credited the special teams and their coordinator Anthony Ammirata for their performance in the game.
"Anthony (Ammirata) came up with a good scheme, and we just went with it," Radice said.
Jeff Dunn’s recovered punt set up the first Lawrence strike. Kane took a left pitch and ran in 13 yards for the touchdown. Ryan Dunn’s extra point knotted the score at 7-7.
It was Kane again for the second Lawrence score – this time coming off the arm of Rosario. The 33-yard pass and run brought the bench and visiting crowd to their feet with 4:02 remaining in the first half and Lawrence now leading 14-7.
In the second half, the Cardinals would be without the services of Rosario, who went down with calf cramps. Luckily, another seasoned veteran stepped in.
"We all have a lot of confidence in Shawn (Gliem)," Radice said. "Armando Rosario does a lot of things really well, but Shawn does other things well. He loves to throw long down the field. He’s looking to do well each time he’s out there and make the most of his opportunities."
Still, Lawrence fell behind again in the second half. While in the first half, the Cardinals struggled with stopping swift Hightstown back Alpha Koroma, the second half saw them have to contend with his backfield mate Oscar Henriquez.
Koroma was nearly unstoppable in the first half, compiling both Ram touchdowns – the latter of which was a scintillating 62-yard run down the Hightstown sideline. But when he went down with a sprain, Henriquez stepped up immediately.
"He’s a four-year player and he’s football through and through," Hightstown coach Bruce Broadbent said. "When Koroma went down, I went to him and said, ‘we need you.’ He said, ‘I know.’
"He did everything we could of asked of him. We needed it and he fought for it."
Henriquez kept numerous second half Ram drives alive. Finally, in the fourth quarter on a first and goal from the 7-yard line, Henriquez bolted right untouched for the go-ahead touchdown. Since the Cardinals had blocked an earlier extra-point attempt, the Rams went for the two-point conversion and got it. Quarterback Brendan Murphy kept it himself and took it through a hole in the Lawrence line to make the score 21-14 in favor of the Rams.
The teams traded the ball back and fourth several times before Gliem found Johnson and Kane found the endzone. His two-point conversion put the Cardinals up by the deciding margin, 22-21.
Broadbent was disappointed by the end result, but proud of the way his team battled the Cardinals to the very last second.
"I thought we were in decent shape with about four minutes to go, but Lawrence is a good team," he said. "It was great effort by both teams. I knew it was going to be a battle."
While the Rams try to get well against Hamilton this week, the Cardinals draw a 1-0 Nottingham squad. Nottingham crushed West Windsor-Plainsboro North Monday in its first game of the season.
After watching the game, Radice knows there will be little rust on his team’s opponents.
"They’re big, they’re fast and they’re strong," Radice said. "Our hands will be full."
While their bodies may be sore from the grueling battle with Hightstown, the Cardinals’ spirits appear to be high. The team which only registered two wins all of last season now has notched as many in just two tries thus far this year. But with both of their opponents holding 0-2 records, Lawrence knows the level of competition has not been at its highest yet.
With that in mind, the Cardinals have something to prove against Nottingham – a team that went to the state tournament a year ago.
"The knock on us is we haven’t beat anyone good yet," Radice said. "But the kids are totally pumped up. They feel they can be competitive in every game. And they know they can earn respect if they can play with – and maybe defeat – Nottingham this week."
Check back with www.lawrenceledger.com Saturday for the result of the Cardinals’ game against Nottingham.