Lawrence wins despite sloppy effort

FootballSince the West Windsor-Plainsboro North football team is only entering its second season of existence, what it will bring to field this season is a bit of a mystery.

By: Steve Feitl
   But Lawrence High School football head coach Rob Radice didn’t need to be a detective to know that the Cardinals need to improve on their final preseason performance if they expect to defeat the Knights this Saturday.
   The Cardinals open the 2001 season at home against WW-P North at 11 a.m.
   In their final scrimmage of the preseason, Lawrence played well enough to defeat South Hunterdon, 7-6, in a gritty, hard-hitting game. But the Cardinals were plagued by mental errors, which led to the score ending up much closer than the game should have been.
   Radice thought his squad played a sloppy game at South Hunterdon on Friday.
   "I thought we made too many mental errors," he said. "Four times we were in the red zone and didn’t convert. We must get better if we want to win."
   Lawrence scored its first touchdown two minutes into the second quarter when junior back Orlando Kane took the screen pass from quarterback Charlie Park at the South Hunterdon 19-yard line and ran it the rest of the way in. Placekicker Ryan Dunn converted the point-after to give Lawrence the early 7-0 lead.
   Kane was key in the drive as he converted a third-and-six at the South Hunterdon 42-yard line with a thrilling 11-yard run that saw Kane break three tackles. Fellow backfield mates Emir Davis and Calvin Cason also picked up some key yardage on the drive.
   Moving the ball was not a problem for the Cardinals all game. Unfortunately, converting was for Lawrence.
   "We moved the ball well," Radice said. "But we always seemed to sputter out. We need to intensify the effort."
   Those problems started early for the Cardinals.
   On the team’s first possession, the Cardinals marched to the South Hunterdon 12-yard line. On third-and-ten, Park hit Davis with a pass at the 1-yard line and the back pushed his way into the endzone. But the touchdown was called off due to an illegal motion penalty.
   On the very next play, Park was picked off by South Hunterdon defenders, aborting Lawrence’s first scoring chance in the process.
   Lawrence’s woes continued immediately following the first touchdown. Again, the Cardinals cruised down the field. This time, Davis led the offensive drive to the South Hunterdon 36-yard line. From there, Kane took a first down hand-off and took it into the endzone again. This time it was called back for holding.
   Two plays later, Park was picked off by Freddy Fennimore at the South Hunterdon 40-yard line. The Eagle took the ball up the field in the opposite direction for South Hunterdon’s only score of the day. A high snap on the point-after attempt allowed Lawrence to keep the slim 7-6 lead, which would hold up as the final score.
   Aside from the mental errors, Radice also felt his team was a little too fatigued in the three-quarter scrimmage. He said that issue would be addressed in practice this week, prior to the WW-P North game.
   A win over the Knights is crucial to the Cardinals, who then go on to face Colonial Valley Conference powerhouses Notre Dame, Nottingham, Hamilton and Steinert in their next four games.
   Positive momentum gained this week would be beneficial heading into such a difficult stretch of games.
   "We’re going to pump it up a notch in practice this week," Radice said. "The challenge is up to out kids to get in shape."