Lawrence beats Hewlett in shootout

Not many teams can allow 28 points in a quarter and still win a football game, but Lawrence found a way in last Saturday's Nassau Conference III showdown with rival Hewlett.

The Golden Tornadoes blanked the host Bulldogs in the second half and rode the legs of junior tailback Tyler Fredericks and arm of sophomore quarterback Joey Capobianco to a wild 54-35 victory.

“I hate to lose,” said Fredericks, who had 298 total yards, scored four times and put Lawrence ahead for good with a 68-yard touchdown run on its first offensive snap of the second half as it rebounded from a loss to Bethpage in Week 2. “Everyone was disappointed with how we played against Bethpage,” he added. “We had a tough week of practice and knew we had to make more plays on both sides of the ball.”

Both teams are 2-1. They combined for 55 points in the second quarter, with Hewlett outscoring Lawrence 28-27. Bulldogs senior quarterback Mark Rizzo had a pair of touchdown passes to senior Sam Martorella as well as a rushing touchdown.

“Lawrence is an explosive team, but we clearly have to fix our defense,” Hewlett head coach Jay Iaquinta said. “We bent but never broke last week against South Side, but today everything came out in the wash.”

It wasn’t all good news for the Golden Tornadoes, who scored 20 unanswered second-half points. All-County senior linebacker Chris Hercules went down early in the third quarter and was transported by ambulance to the hospital and diagnosed with a season-ending broken leg.