FootballFor the first time in a month, the Lawrence Cardinals enter a football game this weekend as something other than the underdog.
By: Steve Feitl
!["photo"]("/local/Z/ZWIRE1091/zwire/images/LLS-FB5A10112001.jpg") |
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Kane (9) blocks a point-after attempt. Staff photo by Robyn C. Stein
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The Cardinals (1-4) visit Princeton (0-5) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Lawrence recently completed the roughest four-game stretch of
any team in the Colonial Valley Conference, as it fell to Notre Dame, Nottingham,
Hamilton and Steinert in consecutive games.
While each game ended up as a loss, there were both highs and
lows in the difficult period. The game against Notre Dame saw the Cardinals overpowered
by a talented Irish squad, while Lawrence self-destructed with mental errors against
Nottingham. And Hamilton, while heavily-favored, escaped from LHS with a mere
27-24 win.
The most recent of the four games was this past weekend at Steinert,
where the Spartans secured a 41-14 victory. While the margin of victory was large,
the game was mostly close for the first half.
"I think they just wore us down," head coach Rob Radice said.
"They had 90 guys on their sidelines. It’s frustrating when we don’t even have
enough kids to substitute when we need to."
Lawrence held off Steinert during its first possession, and
appeared to be on its way to doing it again on the second. On fourth-and-one at
the Lawrence 30-yard line, Steinert back Chuddy Whalen barreled through the line
and broke free for a 30-yard touchdown run.
Steinert drove into Lawrence territory two more times, coming
up short both times once on blown field goal attempt and another on an
incomplete fourth-and-16 play. But Steinert quarterback Kevin Bachalis hit receiver
Justin Tyler with a 43-yard reception on the first play of the next series that
brought the ball to the 1-yard line. From there, Whalen banged it into the end
zone and Lawrence was suddenly down 14-0 at the half.
Steinert continued its roll to start out the second half. Back
Mike Carney got a score on a 42-yard stroll to put Steinert up, 21-0.
But Lawrence finally struck back immediately thereafter. On
the ensuing kickoff, Orlando Kane took off for a 77-yard touchdown return to bring
Lawrence back within two scores, 21-7.
Lawrence’s defense held strong on the next series, but the offense
was then pinned deep in its own end, setting up the momentum-killing Spartan blow.
On second-and-16, Lawrence quarterback Charlie Park dropped back into the end
zone and lost the ball in a chaotic situation. Despite an apparent whistle stopping
the play, Steinert recovered the ball in the end zone and took the commanding
28-7 lead with 3:01 to go in the third quarter.
The Cardinals got their second score on a 82-yard run by Kane
with 8:09 to go in the game. That would be as close as the Cardinals would get,
however.
Carney scored on a 64-yard run, while fellow back Mike Parson
ran for a 29-yard score to bulk up the Cardinal lead to 41-14 at the game’s conclusion.
So the Cardinals survived the four-game stretch, but not before
watching their 1-0 record fall to 1-4. Now the Cardinals face what they consider
to be their second season. Each of the four remaining games are very much in the
Cardinals’ grasp, starting this week with Princeton.
For the first time since the first week of the season, Radice
said the Cardinals will have a slight size advantage.
"We look at this as a new season," Radice said. "We feel good
about these four games, which isn’t something we’ve felt in a while. Believe it
or not, if we can win these next four games we can actually get a playoff game,
as strange as that might sound."