Football
By: Mike Molaro
Any questions about the character and determination of the Lawrence High School football squad were answered early in Saturday’s 28-6 loss to Steinert.
Despite losing their third straight game, the Cardinals (2-3) impressed even their most doubting critics by leaving their heart and soul on their home turf. Although the final score was indicative of a rout, the game was anything but that.
Lawrence gave undefeated Steinert (3-0) all it could handle. A couple of Cardinal breakdowns taken advantage of by the Spartans were all that kept the scoreboard from reading 14-6.
The Cardinals took an early 6-0 lead with an impressive 80-yard, seven-play drive that took 3:30 off the clock. After Steinert won the opening toss and marched from its own 38-yard line to the Lawrence 46, the Cardinal defense stiffened and forced a Spartan punt that landed in the end zone for a touchback.
On a third-and-8 play from Lawrence’s 22, Cardinal sophomore running back Orlando Kane scampered around left end for 36 yards and a first down at the Steinert 42-yard line. Kane again kept the drive going with a key 8-yard jaunt to the Spartan 29 on third-and-4. A personal foul penalty against Steinert on the play moved the ball to the 14.
On the next play Kane, who gained 59 yards on nine carries for the afternoon, went around left end behind a great block from senior offensive lineman Todd Skorupa for a 14-yard touchdown run and the lead with 4:04 remaining in the first quarter. The extra point attempt was wide right.
Steinert answered right back with a 10-play, 62-yard scoring march of its own to take the lead for good with 8:59 to go in the first half. Senior running back Mike Cuniglio, who had 117 rushing yards for the Spartans, had 47 on that march alone and capped the drive with a 1-yard burst up the middle. The first of Paul Bencivengo’s four extra points made it 7-6 Steinert.
The Spartans scored again in the second quarter by going 50 yards in seven plays and eating 3:38 off the clock. Senior running back Dave Kerwick swept around the left side of the Steinert line for the final seven yards and a touchdown, followed by Bencivengo’s extra point. Steinert took a 14-6 advantage into halftime.
Late in the third quarter, Spartan defensive lineman Bill Owens recovered Cardinal quarterback Shawn Gliem’s fumble and raced 20 yards for the third Steinert touchdown. The Spartans closed the scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter on Kerwick’s 5-yard burst, his second touchdown of the afternoon. Kerwick set up the score with a 45-yard punt return to the Cardinal 5-yard line.
It was Gleim’s first series after replacing senior Armando Rosario.
"This was a good football game," said Cardinal head coach Rob Radice. "We came to play and we played hard."
Radice said his team’s morale was low during practices at the beginning of the week, but said the mood improved as the week wore on.
"On Friday we were mentally ready to play," he said.
"Right now, we are not playing well enough to win. We are playing well enough to keep games close, but we aren’t doing the things we need to do to win. We have to take that next step," he added.
A holding call against Lawrence in the second quarter negated a 45-yard punt by sophomore Ryan Dunn that would have had Steinert back at its own 30-yard line. After the second punt from the Lawrence 15-yard line, the Spartans started at midfield, picking up 20 yards in the process, and eventually scored their second touchdown on Kerwick’s 7-yard run.
The Cardinals came close to scoring late in the first half after senior defensive lineman Justin Lampley recovered a Steinert fumble at the Spartan 27. On a fourth-and-13 play, Rosario’s pass through double coverage went off the fingertips of senior split end Isaac Johnson in the end zone.
"We did a good job in this game," Radice said. "Steinert didn’t show us anything that we weren’t prepared for. There were no surprises from them. They took advantage of two big plays (Gliem’s fumble and Kerwick’s punt return). That was the difference between the final score being 14-6 and 28-6. You take away those two plays and it was a pretty even football game."
Radice was particularly pleased with the job his defensive unit did against Spartan senior tight end Mike Costello. Costello had a 100-yard receiving game against West Windsor-Plainsboro South, but did not muster much against the Cardinals.
"This was our best defensive effort of the year," Radice said. "That’s a strong foundation to build on and it’s good to see the defense gel. We are not executing on offense. We are not taking it to teams. We fizzled after that first drive."
In the third quarter, the Cardinals were pinned back to their own 11-yard line following a 61-yard punt by Steinert quarterback Frank Sabatino. After Kerwick intercepted a Rosario pass at the Lawrence 30, the Spartans gained three yards on a fourth-and-7 and gave the ball back to the Cardinals. Gleim replaced Rosario, and three plays later he fumbled after being hit hard while fading back to pass. Owens picked up the loose ball and rumbled for his touchdown.
"We changed quarterbacks late in the third quarter because I felt the team needed a spark and I was looking for a jump start on offense," Radice said. "Armando (Rosario) and Shawn (Gliem) alternated series the remainder of the game. We did that to try and find something that could make our offense click. We made mental mistakes in this game, but mental mistakes are correctable. We played with a lot of emotion and coming into this game with back-to-back losses, that was great to see. The guys haven’t given up and neither have the coaches.
"We have to regroup from this game and get ready for Princeton this Saturday," he said. "A win puts us at 3-3 and that’s a lot better than 2-4. We took away some positives from this game. The effort definitely was there. We will bounce back from this and we’ll move on."
For game photos and a preview of Saturday’s homecoming game against Princeton, see the Oct. 12, 2000 issue of The Lawrence Ledger.