FOOTBALL
By Tim Falls, Sports Editor
Lawrence High School Football coach Rob Radice could sympathize with Steinert.
The Spartans were without their starting quarterback and Steinert’s limited offense did not fare well against the Cardinals’ defense.
Lawrence defeated Steinert, 33-0, on Saturday for the Cardinals’ second-straight shut out victory.
Lawrence improved to 4-2 with the win, and while Radice felt for his opponents, the Cardinals made sure to put the game away and work their way toward the playoffs.
”We need all the wins we can get,” said Lawrence’s Nick Brackett, who caught a touchdown pass to put the Cardianls ahead, 20-0 in the first half. “We have the mentality that each week is a playoff game and we need to win each week.”
Losses to West Windsor-Plainsboro South and Notre Dame made recent wins against Trenton and Steinert much more important. The Cardinals will look to add wins with a game against Ewing on Friday and against Hopewell next Saturday to help pad Lawrence’s postseason bid.
Sean Pearson started and ended Lawrence’s scoring with five-yard touchdown runs.
Lawrence senior quarterback Anthony Russ scored on a 1-yard sneak to send the Cardinals ahead, 13-0, in the first quarter.
Russ also threw touchdown passes to Brackett and senior Colin Anderson.
”The past couple years we were more of a run team,” said Brackett. “This year we finally started doing a 50-50, a lot of pass and a lot of run. I feel the balanced offense is really working for us.”
The pass-run combination helped Lawrence reach the end zone five times, while the Cardinals defense denied Steinert.
Pearson led Lawrence’s running game with 20 carries for 106 yards. Jerry McClure had two carries for 24 yards, Keith Sherman had two carries for 11 yards and Gerrayl Bryson had a five-yard rush.
Brackett had six catches for 67 yards including a six-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.
Likewise, Sherman caught six passes for 67 yards, while Steve Parsons had a 40-yard reception.
Colin Anderson caught a 27-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.
”We did really well splitting the time between the pass and the run,” said Brackett. “Sean Pearson, Keith Sherman had great games running the ball, Colin Anderson and everybody was catching the ball. Our defense did great and that’s big motivation for us.”
Russ completed 14-of-21 attempts for 206 yards, two touchdowns, but threw one interception.
”Anthony is a great quarterback,” said Brackett. “He knows who to throw to, when to throw it and he does a great job.”
Defensively, Lawrence held Steinert to 59 rushing yards. In fact, Lawrence lost more yards in penalties, (11 penalties for 103 yards) than the Spartans gained on the ground. Steinert had 63 yards in offense from passing.
Radice described the win as a little sloppy, especially with all those penalties.
”I try not to cry too much about it,” said Radice, “but we were getting a little concerned about always starting on first-and-20. That’s not my favorite down to be on.”
Nevertheless, with Lawrence’s offensive options all working and the defense shutting Steinert down, the Cardinals were able to overcome their infractions.
Steinert had one significant scoring chance almost at the goal line, but two delay of game penalties pushed the Spartans back and helped Lawrence post its second shut out of the season.
Steinert lost its starting quarterback, Billy Barron, to a broken ankle suffered in the Spartans’ 7-0 win over Hopewell. Radice said the Spartans are a team on the rise and are in a tough situation because of injuries.
”It’s very difficult when you’re missing some key players to injuries,” said Radice. “That’s happened to us the past couple years. I’ve gone into the playoffs with a second string quarterback. It’s not where you want to be.”

