Football
By: Nicholas Schaefer
The Lawrence High School football team (2-1) felt the wrath of Nottingham’s running game Saturday when they were defeated, 33-13.
The North Stars (2-0) used multiple running backs to pound the ball on the ground and exhausted the Cardinals’ defense in the latter part of the game.
"I thought it was a hard-fought football game for the first half," said head coach Rob Radice. "I think we got out-manned. They wore us down in the trenches."
Early and often, the North Stars stopped themselves by committing a ton of penalties. On its first drive, Nottingham brought the ball all the way to the Cardinals 13-yard line, before a clipping penalty along with a false start cost the North Stars a scoring chance.
After a few runs by senior running back Gary Victor and sophomore running back Orlando Kane, senior quarterback Armando Rosario took over on the team’s second drive. Rosario completed a screen pass to junior running back Levi Powell for a 13-yard gain and then scored a touchdown on a quarterback sneak to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead.
Although the Cardinals dominated running the ball the previous two games, the run game was ineffective on Saturday.
"It was one of those things where they are tough on defense," Radice said. "They (Nottingham) were stretching the play out. It was just one of those
days."
Running back Marcus Ledger scored a 7-yard touchdown for the North Stars to tie the game at 6-6. With around four minutes to play in the first half, Rosario brought the Lawrence fans to their feet, connecting with senior Isaac Johnson for a 69-yard touchdown pass to put the Cardinals ahead, 13-6.
Lawrence’s lead did not last much longer. Nottingham marched down the
field with the power and swiftness of running back Anthony Douglas. The back eventually scored a touchdown to bring his team within one, 13-12.
With the North Stars’ running game working so well, the Cardinals got fooled by a play-action pass, and the North Stars scored on the two-point conversion
to give them a 14-13 lead.
On the opening drive for Nottingham in the second half, the North Stars completed a long pass to their tight end, just out of the reach of Cardinals’ defensive back, Isaac Johnson, which brought the ball to Lawrence’s 25-yard line.
"They drove the ball down and scored to start the second half and kind of deflated us," Radice said. "We hoped to get a stop there."
Turnovers haunted the Cardinals for the rest of the game. Rosario was guilty of two fumbles — both in the third quarter.
"Anytime you put the ball on the ground and give the opposition the ball in great field position, they’re going to capitalize," said Radice. "A good team
does that and they (Nottingham) did it."
Radice stressed that his team can ill-afford to turn over the ball if they want to be successful.
"We can’t put the ball on the ground," Radice said. "We can’t make
mistakes like that. We have to play mistake-free football to be competitive."
As for the second half, Radice said his team fought hard but could not keep up with the talented North Stars.
"I was proud of how we played," Radice said. "They didn’t give up. It
became very evident that they were bigger, stronger and faster than us."
The game ended with an interception thrown by Rosario — the fifth turnover of the game for Lawrence.
Up next for the Cardinals is an away game at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Hamilton.
For more on the Cardinals’ loss Saturday, including game photos, and a preview of Lawrence’s contest with Hamilton Friday, see the Sept. 28 edition of the Lawrence Ledger.