Lawrence captures Conference III title

Even when its vaunted ground attack isn’t firing on all cylinders, Lawrence can crank the engine up as high as any offense on Long Island.

The top-seeded Golden Tornadoes got a record-setting performance Saturday from sophomore quarterback Joey Capobianco on the way to capturing their fourth Nassau County football championship in six years, beating No. 4 Plainedge, 64-34, in the Conference III title game at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.

Capobianco threw for a county playoff-record 333 yards, including 253 in the first half, and four touchdowns. Junior Tyler Fredericks had three touchdowns, and senior Ryan Fredericks, junior Eddie Robinson and freshman Jordan Fredericks had two touchdowns apiece for Lawrence (10-1), which scored the last 31 points to win going away after Plainedge (7-4) took a 34-33 lead early in the third quarter.

“I’ve got to give credit to our linemen and receivers,” said Capobianco, who surpassed the Nassau playoff record of 273 yards, set in 1970 by Syosset’s Chris Kupek, on a fourth-quarter dump pass that Ryan Fredericks turned into a 62-yard touchdown and a 51-34 lead with 9:28 remaining. “I had like 10 seconds to throw sometimes, and once the ball gets into the hands of the Fredericks brothers or Eddie, they can take it all the way.” 

The Golden Tornadoes had 624 total yards to Plainedge’s 376. Red Devils quarterback Nick Frenger, also a sophomore, threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns — and three interceptions — while Tyler Manez had four catches for 160 yards and two scores. Robinson’s 147 yards receiving on four grabs paced Lawrence, which will face Sayville on Sunday at noon for the Long Island Class III championship at Stony Brook University.

“They did a nice job in the box against our running game in the first half, but we’ve got four guys that are hard to cover vertically when we throw the ball,” Golden Tornadoes head coach Joe Martillotti said. “Joey really stepped up. He made great decisions all day.”

Lawrence led 33-28 after a first half that featured five lead changes and touchdown drives of 63, 75, 35, 57, 75, 67, 48, 62 and 32 yards. “I think everyone expected another high-scoring game,” Martillotti said. “Both teams are capable of big plays. We didn’t care what the score was as long as we got one more point that them.”

With Lawrence down 14-13 after the first quarter, Robinson made a leaping 18-yard touchdown grab on the second snap of the second to put the Golden Tornadoes ahead 20-14. Two possessions later, he caught a quick slant over the middle and raced 67 yards for a score and a 27-14 advantage. He picked off Frenger on the ensuing possession, but Lawrence fumbled the ball back and Ralph Caccavale (109 yards) cashed in his second touchdown to cut the margin to six.

Plainedge regained the lead, 28-27, on a 64-yard touchdown catch by Manez, but Jordan Fredericks returned the ensuing kickoff to the Red Devils’ 35 and, after a pass interference call, scored on a 17-yard run to put Lawrence ahead by five at halftime.

“We made a couple of defensive tweaks at halftime and came out looking to do a little more out of the power I,” Martillotti said. “I was real pleased with how we played defense in the second half.” 

The Golden Tornadoes didn’t allow a point over the last 20 minutes. Tyler Fredericks scored from six yards out with 29 seconds to go in the third quarter to give them a 39-34 lead, and they never looked back.

Junior John Perrone led the defense with seven tackles and two sacks, and freshman Melik Mavruk had five tackles and a sack as well as a hand in the scoring, with a 9-yard interception return for a touchdown. Junior John Ganas added 74 yards on two catches. 

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