Youthful Lynbrook outlasts Hewlett

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Lynbrook has 32 players beginning either their junior or sophomore season on its 2016 football roster. With so much youth on the squad, head coach Stephen LoCicero affectionately refers to his team as a bunch of “puppies”. 

The Owls’ inexperience showed at times last Saturday in their Nassau Conference III opener against visiting Hewlett, but a gutsy fourth quarter effort on both sides of the ball helped Lynbrook come away with a thrilling 19-15 victory on the turf at Marion Street Elementary.

A six-yard touchdown rush by senior running back Nick Paris put Lynbrook ahead early in the fourth quarter. The Owls defense made that lead stand up the rest of the way, and came up with a crucial stand in the final minute. 

“We had a lot of mental errors, but we seem to be aggressive, play physical, and play our football,” LoCicero said. “Sometimes our young players do puppy things, and then they mature. I think they matured a lot throughout this game, and I’m really happy for them.”

Hot and humid weather conditions played a big role in the contest, delaying the game’s start by an hour. Hewlett had the challenge of getting through the exhausting conditions with a smaller sized roster, but still had a chance to win in the final minute. The Bulldogs worked their way inside Lynbrook’s 20-yard line, but failed to take advantage of the opportunity.  

“It was hot and we don’t have a lot of kids, so conditions are a big part of it,” Hewlett head coach Jay Iaquinta said. “We thought we were still in pretty good shape, and they just got us at the end.”

The Bulldogs had two cracks at the end zone in the last 20 seconds of regulation, but saw passes denied by the efforts of Paris and senior Nick Tuzzio in the secondary.

Paris shined on both sides of the ball, as he was also responsible for the game-winning score with four minutes remaining. With Lynbrook deep in Hewlett territory, Paris took the handoff and fought his way through the right side of the defense for a 4-yard touchdown plunge.

“My line did a great job,” Paris said. “It was kind of tight towards the end, but I just kept my legs going and got in.”

The offenses for both teams struggled to generate much early. The Bulldogs opened the scoring 41 seconds into the second quarter, on a 38-yard touchdown run by senior halfback Jordan Carlo.

The Owls responded less than five minutes later, when junior quarterback Joey Castillo connected with senior wideout Jack Maroney on an 18-yard touchdown pass. Later in the quarter, Castillo found senior receiver Ibrahim Rugova in the end zone, giving Lynbrook a 12-7 lead at the half.  

Hewlett retook the lead with 4:30 left in the third quarter, when senior tight end Wyatt McMahon brought down a 16-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jake Levitz.

The Bulldogs’ senior-laden team showed plenty of promise in the opener. But, on this day, it was Lynbrook’s pups that left the field top dogs.