Cards head into playoffs with win over Allentown

Lawrence football

By: Jim Green
   With the Lawrence High School football team coming off back-to-back huge wins over Hamilton and Notre Dame and heading toward its first-round playoff game, Cardinal coach Rob Radice knew his guys would have a tough time bringing the same intensity into their game at struggling Allentown on Friday night.
   However, despite a slow start, the Cardinals simply overwhelmed the Redbirds with their talent, rolling to a 58-14 victory. With the win, the Cardinals improved to 8-0 and finished with the No. 2 seed in the Central Jersey Group III section of the state playoffs. The Cardinals, who are returning to the playoffs for the second straight year and the third time overall under Radice, will play host to seventh-seeded Ocean Township at 1 p.m. Saturday.
   "I feel like it’s time for us to do something (in the playoffs)," Radice said. "We haven’t won a playoff game in school history. Every team is different in the playoffs. Every team is capable of winning. We know we’ll have to play a lot better than we did tonight."
   It speaks volumes about the talent on a team when it scores 58 points on a slow night. That was the case for the Cardinals, who improved their season scoring average to 39.9 points per game. Offensively, Lawrence rushed for 300 yards on just 36 carries, with a balanced effort led by tailback Nick Cannon, who had seven carries for 90 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Brett Brackett, who completed 4-of-12 passes for 58 yards and two scores, now has thrown for 1,224 yards and 16 touchdowns with just three interceptions in his brilliant senior season.
   Despite the gaudy numbers, the Cardinals had difficulty getting going offensively in the first quarter against Allentown. In fact, their only score of the period came on special teams, as Alberto Golden blocked an Allentown punt, and the ball was recovered at the Redbirds 5 by Pat Beighley, who carried the ball into the end zone for his first touchdown.
   "My biggest fear was a letdown," Radice said. "I thought we were sleepwalking in the first quarter. If you’re playing a state football game like that, you’re going to lose that game."
   Lawrence finally hit its stride on its first possession of the second quarter, as Cannon had 54 yards on four carries, moving the Cardinals from their own 26 to the Allentown 29. On third down, fullback Alex Pearson took an inside handoff and shot down the field for the 29-yard touchdown, as Lawrence took a 14-0 lead.
   "Nick Cannon had a pretty good night," Radice said. "We were trying to get into a rhythm. It felt strange coming off three huge wins."
   The quick-strike Cardinals proceeded to put the game away with 21 points over the last 2:33 of the quarter. It took them just 12 seconds to move 63 yards for their first score of the stretch, as Brackett connected with tight end Jim Gorski for a 25-yard gain, and Cannon sprinted 24 yards for the touchdown.
   Lawrence then attempted an onside kick, which was recovered by Cardinal defensive back Joel Rosario at the Allentown 21. Two plays later, Brackett hit split end Ryan Welsh for a 12-yard touchdown. The quarterback then converted the 2-point conversion with a pass to Gorski, giving Lawrence a 28-point lead.
   The Cardinal defense, which was dominant all night before being lifted for the junior varsity in the second half, forced the Redbirds to turn the ball over on downs at their own 22. Once again, Lawrence hit them hard and fast, with Brackett finding Welsh for a 16-yard gain and tight end Geoff Kimmel for a 5-yard touchdown.
   Lawrence kept the momentum going with its first possession of the third quarter, traveling 54 yards on eight running plays and eating up nearly five minutes. Fullback Mike DiLorenzo had six carries for 26 yards on the drive, including a 1-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal.
   With a 42-0 lead, the Cardinals went to their backups, who managed to score two more touchdowns. Quarterback Brian Mills hit paydirt on a 12-yard keeper with 2:52 left in the third, and Sean Goldstein finished the Lawrence scoring with a 7-yard run two minutes into the fourth.
   "I was happy we put some points up after the first quarter," Radice said. "We got to play a lot of young guys, which is good."
• NOTES: The Cardinals lost 20-6 to Hillsborough in the first round of the Central Jersey Group IV playoffs last season, and 35-12 to Colonia in the 2001 first round. Unlike this Saturday’s game, those two losses were on the road.
   The Cardinals’ final regular-season game is scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 19 at West Windsor-Plainsboro South. The Pirates are the top seed in CJ III, which could make for a strange situation, in which two teams square off for a state championship two weeks after playing each other in the regular season.