Lawrence rolls to title game

As backup to All-Long Island quarterback John Kinder a year ago, Samson Bialostock contributed as much as anyone could in his position during Lawrence’s run to the Nassau Conference III championship.

Now he and the Golden Tornadoes are on the verge of a repeat.

Bialostock orchestrated five straight touchdown drives, capping two with runs of his own, in the opening half to lead second-seeded Lawrence to a 49-14 semifinal playoff rout of No. 5 Hewlett last Friday afternoon at Hofstra. He completed his first eight passes for 163 yards as the Golden Tornadoes secured their spot in the title game against top-seeded Lynbrook this Friday at 7 p.m. at Hofstra.

“I learned a lot from John about what it takes to be a leader,” said Bialostock, whose only pass attempt in 2009 went for a touchdown against Lynbrook. “I’ve been playing with more and more confidence the past month. Our whole team is, really.”

Lawrence (8-2) racked up 353 total yards and 19 first downs in the first half and led 35-7 — the same score it lost to Hewlett (7-3) in Week 3 of the regular season — after Bialostock capped the offensive clinic with a 1-yard touchdown run as time expired. Sophomore Tyler Fredericks had a pair of touchdown runs and a touchdown reception, and junior Ryan Fredericks had a pair of scoring runs and a two-point conversion. 

“This is the one matchup we knew would focus our kids a lot,” Golden Tornadoes first-year coach Joe Martillotti said. “They beat us pretty good early in the season, but we’ve made a bunch of changes since then and our big guys are dominating up front. We’re playing our best ball at the right time.”

After Hewlett’s opening drive stalled at the Lawrence 27-yard line thanks to a sack by senior Nick Belen, Bialostock & Co. went to work and needed only four plays to produce the game’s first score. Tyler Fredericks slipped behind the secondary and caught a 48-yard touchdown pass, and senior Marcos Pinto’s extra-point made it 7-0.

On their next possession, the Golden Tornadoes drove 52 yards on five plays — all handoffs — and led 13-0 after Ryan Fredericks reached the end zone from a yard out. The Bulldogs answered, faking a punt for 17 yards to keep alive a drive capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Alex Kahn to senior Mark Rizzo, but by the time they scored again, on a 1-yard run by Kahn seconds into the fourth quarter, the game was out of reach.

“We overcame a lot of adversity to get this far and I’m proud of the season we had,” Hewlett coach Jay Iaquinta said. “They were definitely the better team today. They were faster and stronger than the first time we played.”

It was the third playoff meeting between the Five Towns rivals since Section VIII went to its Big Four format in 1989. Lawrence beat Hewlett in a historic Conference II semifinal in ’96, 48-41 in four overtimes, and the Bulldogs won a first-round game in 2005, 20-9.