Senior went down fighting
By: John E. Powers
The Lawrence High School football team lost Friday night in its Central Jersey Group IV quarterfinal at Hillsborough, but it wasn’t for a lack of heart from its senior co-captain Alex Parson.
The Cardinals, who’ll finish their season with a game at Allentown on Saturday, were beaten by the third-seeded Raiders 20-6 in a game that was played in a driving rain and dropping temperatures on Hillsborough’s FieldTurf surface.
The Cardinals trailed just 14-0 at half and began the third quarter like a team ready to make a game of it. Senior Adam Oliszewski sparked the Cardinals with a 17-yard return on the second-half kickoff. Parson then went for eight yards to the Hillsborough 47, but junior quarterback Brett Brackett was dropped for a one-yard loss on second down. But Parson recovered with a 4-yard run for a first down to the Raider 44. Rocco Mazzagatti and Ryan Fitzgerald dropped sophomore running back Bayshawn Wells for no gain and the drive eventually stopped at the Hillsborough 47.
Lawrence broke through on its next drive behind Parson. He ran five straight plays, leading the Cardinals from their own 20 to the Hillsborough seven. A holding penalty backed the Cardinals up to the Raider 15. Junior quarterback Brett Brackett threw an incomplete pass before Brackett hit sophomore tight end Jim Gorski wide open in the end zone at 4:39 to pull the Cardinals to within 14-6. Junior Pat Stanger’s extra point kick missed the mark, however.
"We couldn’t get it done in the first half," said Parson, who finished with a team-leading 51 yards on 15 carries. "We didn’t have the kind of focus and fire we came out with in our games with Hamilton and Notre Dame, and Hillsborough really took it to us."
But the second half was different, as Parson followed backfield mate Oliszewski for yardage. Oliszewski had 47 yards on 10 carries.
"Adam made some huge blocks, and there were some huge holes," Parson said.
Head coach Rob Radice said the coaching staff made a few adjustments at the half.
"Alex is a tough kid, who runs hard and we felt we could get him going," Radice said. "We made a couple of adjustments at the half. We motioned Alex back to the I, and we thought blast and trap would be there, and they were and we did what we did, but once the score became 20-6 you had to throw that plan out, too."