Lawrence football
By: Jim Green
This was not the way the 2005 season was supposed to end for the Lawrence High School football team. One of the best years in program history came to a close Saturday with a 31-14 loss at West Windsor-Plainsboro South. Despite the tough loss, there were plenty of positives for the Cardinals to look back on.
Just a month ago, the Cardinals seemed to be at the top of their game following thrilling wins over Hamilton and Notre Dame. But Lawrence suffered from several bad breaks in a 28-25 home playoff loss to Ocean Township on Nov. 12 and could not bounce back on the road against the powerful Pirates.
The season-ending defeat left Lawrence at 8-2 and one win shy of tying the school record. It also marked the end of Penn State University-bound quarterback Brett Brackett’s remarkable three-year career as Cardinal starter. Over those three years, he guided the Cardinals to a 19-11 record and back-to-back playoff appearances. He threw for 3,823 career yards and accounted for 54 touchdowns (41 passing). Perhaps the only disappointment during that three-year period was the way the Cardinals closed out this tremendous season.
"It was a sorry way to end my career," Brackett said. "You have to tip your hat to them."
The match-up was billed as the battle of the Colonial Valley Conference’s two best regular-season teams, as it pitted CVC Colonial Division champ Lawrence against the Patriot Division-winning Pirates. While fellow conference power Nottingham advanced to this weekend’s Central Jersey Group III state title game, all Lawrence and WW-P South had left to play for was pride this weekend.
After Lawrence backup quarterback Brian Mills returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 in the first quarter, however, it was all Pirates. South gained almost 300 yards on the ground alone, while allowing the vaunted Cardinal offense just 195 total yards. It was the first time since the Cardinals’ 20-6 loss to Hillsborough in the first round of the 2004 playoffs that Lawrence was held to fewer than two offensive touchdowns.
Still, the Cardinals are trying to focus on everything they achieved this year prior to the final two games.
"We’re trying to put a positive spin on it," Radice said. "I think we wanted to win. They were the better team today (Saturday)."
Lawrence, which was playing without its top two halfbacks Bayshawn Wells is out with a broken leg and Nick Cannon with a broken collarbone struggled from its first offensive possession, on which it went three-and-out. South took over at its 24 and immediately began exerting its will on the game, as Brian Morris carried the ball for 29 yards on first down. Eight plays later, Pirates 1,000-yard rusher Ryan Lupo took the ball into the end zone for a 2-yard score to put South ahead.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as Mills took the ensuing kickoff, found a seam in the Pirates’ coverage and blasted through for an 85-yard touchdown, tying the score. South had an answer of its own, however, going on a 15-play, 72-yard drive that ate up more than seven minutes and resulted in a 27-yard field goal, as WW-P South took a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter.
The Cardinals were forced to punt away their next two possessions, as they continued to struggle to get anything going on offense. Following the second punt, Lupo had a big 29-yard run into Lawrence territory, and the Pirates drive was capped with a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Colin Dampier to receiver J.B. Fitzgerald.
Brackett, though, refused to go away quietly. He connected on passes of 13 yards to tight end Geoff Kimmel and 34 yards to receiver Jim Gorski, as Lawrence moved down to the Pirates 8. But three straight incomplete passes left Lawrence with a fourth-and-goal from the same spot. Knowing his team wasn’t going to win this game with field goals, Radice decided to go for the touchdown, but Brackett was sacked for a 10-yard loss on the final play of the half.
"I wanted to get seven and take the momentum away," Radice said. "We thought if we could get it to 17-14 at the half, we’d feel good about it."
Instead, South took a 17-7 lead into halftime, and came back out for the third with all the momentum. On the first play of the second half, the Dampier-to-Fitzgerald connection struck again this time for a 65-yard touchdown. On the Pirates’ next possession, they put the game out of reach with a 24-yard rushing score by running back E.J. Burgess.
The Cardinals kept fighting, but they only were able to come up with one scoring drive. Late in the third quarter, Brackett hit Gorski and Kurtis Brown with 24-yard passes, and the possession was capped by fullback Alex Pearson’s 1-yard touchdown run that finished the scoring.
The Cardinals now must move on without Brackett, Shropshire and senior receiver Ryan Welsh, as well as senior defensive stalwarts Joel Rosario, Alberto Golden, Keith Kent and Zach Calderone and kicker Pat Stanger, among others. But there is plenty of talent returning next year with the goal of reaching the state playoffs for the third straight season.
"We did a lot of overachieving this year," Radice said. "We’re disappointed any time we lose, but I bring back a lot of kids, which is good."