Lawrence rallies past Hewlett

Coming off its first defeat since the 2011 Long Island Class II championship game and with a handful of starters on the shelf, Lawrence had its hands full with cross-town rival Hewlett in last Saturday’s Conference III football matchup.

The Golden Tornadoes trailed by two scores in the first half but used a big play as time expired and a strong second half to prevail before a large crowd on Homecoming Day, 35-20. Junior Jordan Fredericks rushed for 267 yards and two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter, and the defense didn’t allow a point after halftime, to lead the comeback.

Lawrence (4-1) scored the game’s final 29 points and began the rally on the final snap of the opening half when senior quarterback Joe Capobianco hit Victor Mintz on a 21-yard touchdown pass. Capobianco (7-for-12, 130 yards) ran in the two-point conversion to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 20-14.

“That was a big pick-me-up at the end of the first half,” Lawrence head coach Joe Martillotti said. “Going into the locker room after a play like that was exactly what we needed. It got the crowd going and gave us energy.

“Hewlett came to play like we knew they would,” he added. “They kept us to three possessions in the first half.”

It was the first start at tailback for Fredericks, who had a 56-yard touchdown in the third quarter and a 25-yard touchdown in the fourth. “We had to get Jordan more touches,” Martillotti said. Capobianco rushed for 62 yards, including a 4-yard scoring plunge on the opening drive of the second half that put the Golden Tornadoes ahead 21-20 after Daniel Reiskin booted the extra point. Junior Simon Jones had a 2-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. 

Hewlett (2-3) got a pair of touchdown passes from junior quarterback Jeff Rizzo to senior Richard Lyons in the second quarter, as well as a 20-yard scoring run from senior Jeremy Leguillow in the first. In between Leguillow’s touchdown and Lyons’ second score, Tredd Smith recovered an on-side kick.

“For the first 23-and-a-half minutes we played extremely well,” Bulldogs head coach Jay Iaquinta said. “We ate up the clock and moved the ball. Jeff’s doing a great job reading the option and running the offense.”

Lawrence’s defense had allowed at least one touchdown in nine straight quarters before turning the page in last Saturday’s second half. The unit was led by senior Melik Mavruk’s nine tackles and Dimitri Samuels’ seven stops. “We switched to a 5-2 and played responsible defense in the second half,” Martillotti said. “When you face an offense like Hewlett’s, you have to stick to your assignments.”

A week after pulling out a 28-27 overtime win over Division, Hewlett’s scoring drives covered 65, 45 and 50 yards, Iaquinta said. “We’ve got two big games coming up against Floral Park [this Saturday] and Lynbrook,” he said.

Lynbrook is next up for Lawrence, and Martillotti said a key in this Saturday’s game at Marion Street Elementary School will be how the defense performs on first down. “We want to force them into second-and-long and third-and-long,” he said.