Lawrence win streak at four

Defending Nassau Conference III football champion Lynbrook visits Lawrence this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in a long-anticipated matchup between the top two seeds, and the Golden Tornadoes will have a four-game winning streak on the line.

Sophomore quarterback Joey Capobianco threw second-quarter touchdown passes to freshman Jordan Fredericks and senior Ryan Fredericks to spark Lawrence to a 35-7 victory at Floral Park last Saturday. The Golden Tornadoes (5-1) led by 22 at halftime after a scoreless opening quarter and came within a late touchdown pass of their second shutout of 2011.

Ryan Fredericks (165 yards rushing) found the end zone four times as the offense produced at least 35 points for the fifth time in six games. “Ryan’s our workhorse,” Lawrence head coach Joe Martillotti said. “He’ll go for five yards, five yards, five yards and then rip off a 10 or 15 yarder.” Juniors Kenny Perez (12 tackles) and Ludwing Velasquez (nine) had huge days on defense, but senior safety Chris Donahue suffered a broken foot that requires a
month off. 

Lynbrook (5-1), which suffered its lone defeat at the hands of Floral Park in Week 4, has bounced back with wins over Hewlett and Sewanhaka. Martillotti said containing Owls quarterback Luke Spitzer will be a key. “He’s their main guy,” Martillotti said of Spitzer, who has 12 touchdown runs. “He’s shifty. We have to play responsible defense and not give him lanes.”

Spitzer was a receiver when the teams split meetings in 2010. Lawrence won the regular-season game, 23-22, but Lynbrook took the title with a 39-14 decision at Hofstra.

First-place Bethpage tops Hewlett

Lawrence and Lynbrook are both trailing in the race for the No. 1 playoff seed. Bethpage, seeded No. 5 in the preseason, remained undefeated with a 22-14 win at Hewlett last Saturday. The Golden Eagles have 126.87 power points, leading Lawrence (126.67) by the slimmest of margins. Lynbrook is third with 118.33.

Hewlett (3-3) played a third consecutive game without senior quarterback Mark Rizzo, who is out with a hamstring injury suffered in a Week 3 defeat to Lawrence. Senior Sam Martorella continues to lead the Bulldogs offense. He caught a 61-yard touchdown pass from Zach Richman in the second quarter and added a 76-yard kickoff return for a score in the fourth. 

Hewlett will try to get back on track when it travels to Manhasset this Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.