Lawrence football
By: Jim Green
The Lawrence High School football team knew it was a huge underdog heading into its Friday night clash with Notre Dame.
After all, the Fighting Irish were riding a 47-game Colonial Valley Conference winning streak already having dispatched of such CVC powers as Hamilton and Hightstown and they hammered Lawrence 56-14 last season on Senior Day at LHS.
But the Cardinals paid no attention to any of that. In fact, they didn’t focus on Notre Dame at all. Instead, they kept their eye on the fact that a win over Notre Dame likely would mean a home game for Lawrence in the first round of the state playoffs. And while the Cardinals couldn’t quite pull off the upset, they came as close as anyone has during the streak, twice leading before falling 16-12 at the Rev. Walter E. Nolan Field.
"I’m so proud," Lawrence coach Rob Radice said. "They played their guts out. Our effort was outstanding. It was a great high school football game. We came in here and played hard."
The Cardinals’ team leaders were at their best Friday night, desperately attempting to lead Lawrence to its first win over the Irish during Radice’s five-year tenure. Senior tailback Alex Parson rushed for a team-high 54 yards including a key 32-yard run on the Cardinals’ first possession and junior quarterback Brett Brackett nearly willed his team to a win.
But the true stars of the game were on the defensive side of the ball, where senior defensive lineman Mark Lenarski and senior defensive back Neal Amato led an effort that held the high-flying Irish in check most of the day.
"We really wanted this game," Lenarski said. "We wanted to prove we were the top team in the CVC. We all played really hard. We just came up short. I’m extremely proud. I couldn’t ask for anything else."
Lenarski and junior defensive end Keith Kent pressure Notre Dame quarterback Joe Giaquinto all night. And when Giaquinto was able to get off a decent pass, Amato and juniors Joel Rosario and Alberto Golden were there to knock it away. Giaquinto, the CVC’s leading passer this season, finished the game just 8-for-23 for 49 yards.
Lawrence junior kicker Pat Stanger booted a 19-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving the Cardinals a 12-9 lead, which they maintained until Giaquinto finally broke through, connecting with receiver Bill Mitchell for the winning touchdown with just 3:24 remaining.
"We knew they were really good on offense," Lenarski said. "We knew we had one of the top defenses in the CVC. We gave up a couple of big plays. That’s what killed us."
As a result of the tough loss, Lawrence will be on the road in the first round of the playoffs. The sixth-seeded Cardinals (6-2) will visit third-seeded Hillsborough (7-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.
"We knew if we won this game, we’d have a home playoff game," Lenarski said. "That was the main focus. The streak was in the back of our minds. We were more focused on the home playoff game."
That focus was evident from Lawrence’s opening possession. Despite the tremendous crowd, the Irish’s streak and the pressure of playing in a rivalry game with playoff implications, the Cardinals were all-business. On the third play of the game, sophomore tailback Bayshawn Wells sent a message to the Irish defense by scampering for seven yards on a third-and-six. And, if the Irish didn’t receive that message, Parson made sure they heard it loud and clear on the next play, ripping through the Notre Dame defense and down the right sideline for 32 yards.
The Cardinals were stopped on their next three plays all running attempts but Stanger booted a 21-yard field goal through the uprights, giving Lawrence the early 3-0 lead.
Notre Dame returned the ensuing kickoff into Lawrence territory, as the Irish seemed ready to enforce their will on the game. But the Cardinals defense stepped up, stopping the Irish on fourth-and-2, as Giaquinto was rushed by Kent and had his pass tipped away by Amato.
The game then turned into a defensive struggle, with neither team getting much of anything done on offense. The score remained unchanged through the end of the first quarter, and the Cardinals defense forced the Irish to punt on each of their first three possessions of the second. The third punt was blocked by Lawrence, giving the Cardinals the ball at the Notre Dame 9. The Cardinals wasted no time adding to their lead, as Brackett took the first-down snap and scrambled nine yards into the end zone for a touchdown and a 9-point advantage.
However, the Irish stormed right back, as running back Andrew Reixinger carried his team down the field, breaking off a 48-yard run and later scoring from five yards out to pull the Irish within a field goal. And they got that field goal on their next possession, tying the game heading into halftime.
The Lawrence defense recaptured its dominant form at the start of the third quarter, as Lenarski, seemingly lining up in the Notre Dame backfield, helped slow down Reixinger and the Irish running attack.
"He (Lenarski) played a phenomenal game," Radice said. "He played his tail off."
Following Notre Dame’s second punt of the quarter, the Lawrence offense came back to life, putting together its first sustained drive since its opening possession. This time it was Brackett’s turn to lead the way, connecting with junior wide receiver Ryan Welsh for a 25-yard bomb into Notre Dame territory and bringing the Lawrence fans to their feet with a phenomenal 11-yard run on third-and-nine.
Brackett, who also starts at center for the LHS boys basketball team, showed off his superior athletic ability, finishing the run by hurdling over a would-be tackler along the right sideline and refusing to go down until he got past the first-down marker. The inspirational run gave Lawrence a first-and-10 at the Notre Dame 11.
"Brett’s a playmaker," Lenarski said. "He’ll risk his life to get the first down. He came up big for us there."
"He just wants to win," Radice said of his quarterback. "He has a will to win. All these kids have the will to win."
Brackett had a two-yard keeper and a six-yard completion to junior tight end Jim Gorski on the next two plays. On third-and-two, the Cardinals handed the ball to their go-to guy, senior fullback Adam Oliszewski. But the Irish held Oliszewski to one yard, giving Radice a difficult decision as the third quarter came to a close.
Knowing that one yard can be difficult to get on any given play against the big Irish defense and that Stanger was a virtual lock from 19 yards out, Radice called on his kicker. Sure enough, Stanger booted the ball through for a 12-9 lead.
"We didn’t get it (the first down) in three," Radice said. "I thought we should get the points. I thought it was the right thing to do. It’s my coaching philosophy, and it’s won games for us before."
Most coaches likely would agree with Radice’s decision, even though Notre Dame managed to pull out the winning touchdown later in the quarter on Giaquinto’s nine-yard pass to Mitchell.
"We just came up a little short," Radice added. "If I had to it over again, it’s easy to say now, but I’d probably do the same thing.
"Putting points on the board can win you a big game."