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Mostly Cloudy Lawrence denied L.I. title
Falls to Hills West, 42-32
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Quarterback John Kinder scored all four of Lawrence's offensive touchdowns.
Jeff Wilson/Herald
Lawrence’s high-octane offense didn’t disappoint in last Saturday’s Long Island Class III championship game against Half Hollow Hills West at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium, but its defense was without Cruz control.
JeVahn Cruz, that is.
The Colts’ dynamic quarterback amassed 450 all-purpose yards, rushed for three touchdowns and passed for three more to lead Hills West to a 42-32 victory over the Golden Tornadoes in the highest-scoring game in L.I. championship history.
Cruz’s 64-yard touchdown run with 2:27 remaining in the third quarter put the Colts (12-0) ahead for good, 28-26. He hooked up with Demarr Aultman on touchdown passes of 48, 25 and 42 yards.
“He hurt us with the pass as much as he did the run,” Lawrence head coach Lou Andre said of Cruz, who shook off a nasty hit in the first quarter and played most of the game with a bruised knee. “We had a few too many defensive breakdowns.”
Senior quarterback John Kinder scored all four offensive touchdowns for Lawrence (9-3) and rushed for 107 yards and passed for 99. The Syracuse-bound star had 1,407 rushing yards, 1,296 passing yards and 30 touchdowns on the season.
“I thought we matched up well with them,” said Kinder, who led the highest-scoring offense (495 points) on Long Island. “But their defense was very quick and they made some big plays on offense.”
For the fourth straight playoff game, Lawrence scored a touchdown the first time it touched the football. Kinder capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive that ate up the first seven minutes of the game with a 3-yard touchdown run, and Marcos Pinto’s extra point made it 7-0.
The offensive fireworks began in the second quarter, when Hills West opened its second possession from its own 31-yard line after a Lawrence drive stalled. A 16-yard run by Cruz showed players and coaches on both sides and the 2,500 fans in attendance that he wouldn’t be spending any time on the sidelines, and following a short gain by Devante McFarlane, Cruz hooked up with Aultman for an electrifying game-tying touchdown. “He's our heart and soul,” Colts coach Kyle Madden said of Cruz. “It would have been a different game if he didn’t play. Lawrence has a great offense and we knew we had to score.”
As Aultman sliced across the field on his way to the end zone, Lawrence senior running back/cornerback Kenny Barnett absorbed a hit as hard as the one on Cruz and missed a few offensive and defensive series as a result. Barnett, who scored 24 touchdowns on the year, finished with 74 yards on 15 carries.
Kinder and Aultman traded touchdowns late in the first half, and the difference at intermission was an extra point, as Hills West led 14-13.
Six seconds of the second half was all the Golden Tornadoes needed to get back on top. The Colts muffed the kickoff, and Cruz fumbled the first snap from scrimmage in the end zone. Senior linebacker John Cossack pounced on the loose ball for a touchdown and a 20-14 lead.
Lawrence’s defense forced the first punt of the day on Hills West’s ensuing possession, but a Cruz interception put the Colts offense back in business, and he scored on a 10-yard run to vault them back in front. Kinder answered with a 1-yard touchdown, only to see Cruz respond with a dazzling touchdown run that kept Hills West ahead the rest of the way.
Cruz iced the game in the fourth quarter, carrying the ball on every down of a 12-play, 85-yard touchdown drive that chewed up six minutes and made the score 42-26 with 3:40 left. Kinder scored on a 7-yard run to make it 42-32 with 1:38 to go, but the two-point conversion pass failed and Hills West recovered the onside kick.
“We had a great year, but we came up short today against a great team,” senior center/defensive tackle Michael Stanya said.
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