Lawrence football
By: Jim Green
In a season where the Lawrence High School football team’s offense has received most of the headlines, the biggest play just might have been made by the Cardinals defense.
The Cardinals were 3-0 entering Saturday’s home contest against Nottingham, riding high after a 41-18 thrashing of Princeton the week before. But for most of the first three quarters, the Northstars enforced their will on the game, taking a 7-3 lead and turning the contest into a battle that hinged on defense and ball control.
With just over a minute left in the third, though, Nottingham went away from its game plan and ran a pass play from its own 20-yard line. Lawrence junior defensive lineman Keith Kent made the Northstars regret that decision, chasing down quarterback Tim Raywood and dragging him to the turf back at the 12-yard line.
Kent’s sack swung the momentum of the game. The Northstars could no longer get out of their own way, while the Lawrence offense pressed its advantage, with junior quarterback Brett Brackett tossing touchdown passes on each of the next two possessions. Lawrence went on to win 17-7, staying perfect at 4-0.
"I feel like we’re never out," Lawrence coach Rob Radice said. "We have too many horses to be out. We were nervous coming in here. We did what we needed to do, and we’re 4-0. That’s the bottom line."
The Cardinals certainly have many strong contributors on both sides of the ball. Brackett continued his outstanding season, completing 9-of-16 passes for 114 yards and the two scores. Through four games, he has tossed six touchdown passes while throwing just one interception in 61 pass attempts.
Sophomore tailback Bayshawn Wells continued to emerge as a playmaker, rushing 11 times for a team-high 51 yards and catching two passes for 14 yards. Junior wide receiver Ryan Welsh had three catches for 59 yards and a score, while sophomore tight end Jim Gorski caught his second touchdown pass of the season.
But the play of the game came from Kent, whose critical sack helped the Cardinals beat Nottingham for the first time during Radice’s tenure.
"I didn’t expect them to pass," Kent said. "I figured they’d keep running. I just threw him (a Nottingham offensive lineman) and hit the quarterback as hard as I could. We needed that stop. There was no way they were going to get a third-and-18 the way we were playing defense."
Brackett, meanwhile, was providing the hard-nosed play on the other side of the ball. While his main weapon is his powerful right arm, he sparked two of the Cardinals’ three scoring drives with impressive runs against the physical Nottingham defense.
"He’s a great athlete," Radice said. "He knows what we need to do. He’s making great choices."
Brackett set the tone for the hard-fought game on the Cardinals’ first possession. On third-and-three from the Lawrence 49, Brackett ran a keeper, scrambling to the left sideline, where he was chased down by a Nottingham lineman. Instead of going down, Brackett pushed off the lineman and sprinted to the other side of the field and up the sideline, eventually gaining 12 yards and a first down at the Nottingham 39.
Brackett gained 11 more yards on the ground and completed back-to-back passes to Welsh and senior fullback Adam Oliszewski, moving the ball to the 13. On fourth-and-one, Radice opted to attempt a field goal, and junior Pat Stanger was perfect on the 30-yard attempt, giving Lawrence the early lead.
"I’ve won a couple of games in my career on field goals, and I thought this might be another one," Radice said. "It’s a great weapon. He’s a great kicker and a great punter. He does everything well."
The game then turned into a defensive battle, with the two teams exchanging punts until junior defensive back Joel Rosario’s interception with 1:10 left in the second quarter. The Cardinals took their 3-0 lead into halftime.
But on Nottingham’s first possession of the third quarter, the Northstars traveled 57 yards in just over three minutes, scoring on Qawee Little’s four-yard run to take a 7-3 lead. The Cardinals offense, meanwhile, continued to scuffle and was forced to punt on each of its next two possessions.
"They just adjusted well," Radice said. "They had two weeks to prepare, and they had a great defensive plan."
Stanger’s second punt of the quarter was good for 39 yards, pushing Nottingham back to its 20. That’s when the Northstars, who tallied 157 yards rushing on the day, made the mistake of trying to pass.
Kent’s sack quickly turned Nottingham’s possession into a three-and-out. Following a Northstars chop-block penalty on the ensuing punt, the Cardinals took over at the Nottingham 29, clearly smelling blood.
"Our defense is a great defense," Kent said. "We showed we can step it up. It’s a complete team effort."
Three straight rushing plays gave Lawrence a first down at the 19. Brackett then rolled left and hit a sliding Gorski in the end zone for the go-ahead score.
"When they get a touchdown, we get so psyched up, and we just want to get back out there right away and do what we do best, which is to stop the offense from scoring points," Kent said.
The Cardinals defense did just that, forcing Nottingham to punt from its own 38 with just under seven minutes left in the game. The Cardinals took over at their 48 and methodically ran three minutes off the clock, including a nine-yard run by Brackett on third-and-six from the Northstars 48. And on third-and-19 from the Nottingham 33, Brackett connected with Welsh for a 33-yard touchdown bomb down the left sideline that sealed the victory.
"We knew it was going to be a smash-mouth game," Radice said. "I thought we played better in the second half."
NOTE: The Cardinals will look to stretch their record to 5-0 with their homecoming game against winless first-year varsity program Hopewell Valley at 2 p.m. Saturday.