Lawrence gets best of South Side

There was plenty of hype leading up to Lawrence’s first game on its brand new turf field, but no drama.

The defending Nassau Conference III champion Golden Tornadoes made the debut of new head coach Joe Martillotti a winning one as they rolled to a 56-7 victory over visiting South Side on Sept. 8.

Junior tailback Ryan Fredericks capped Lawrence’s first-ever offensive possession on the turf with a 35-yard touchdown run with 8:35 left in the first quarter, and the Golden Tornadoes broke the game open with two scores in the final 54 seconds of the half to lead 29-0. The Cyclones, who committed four turnovers, avoided the shutout late in the third quarter when junior tight end Sean Kenny hauled in a 5-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback James Howard.

“Everyone has been excited about the new field since they started tearing up the old one,” Martillotti said. “It’s great, and it’s special to have my first coaching win come here.”

The biggest decision facing Martillotti in camp revolved around choosing John Kinder’s successor at quarterback. Senior Samson Bialostock got the nod and came out of the gate with three touchdowns (two rushing, one passing) against South Side. “He settled in nicely after the first few possessions,” Martillotti said of Bialostock, who threw for 131 yards and also completed a two-point conversion pass. “He’s a good leader and we’ve got a lot of weapons around him.”

Leading 14-0 after an interception by senior Kristoff Richards set up sophomore Tyler Fredericks’ 25-yard touchdown run, Bialostock scored on a 1-yard plunge to extend the lead with 54 seconds remaining in the half. The Golden Tornadoes got the ball back on downs on South Side’s 38 with 17 seconds left and cashed in when Bialostock fired a 4-yard touchdown pass to senior Shawn Tarrant on the final snap of the half. 

“Shawn had a huge day,” Martillotti said of Tarrant, who had an interception and seven solo tackles on defense. “He ran hard with the ball and was all over the field on defense.”