By TONY BELLISSIMO
Behind tailbacks Bryan DiSabato and Travis Kennedy and quarterback P.J. Preziosa, top-seeded Lawrence pounded out 194 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 47 carries en route to a 19-6 victory over the Trojans before nearly 2,000 spectators. Its defense also won the battle in the trenches and allowed only a long touchdown pass with 9:12 remaining.
"I'm really happy for this group of kids," Coach Lou Andre said. "We felt like the underdog, but I could tell by the end of the first quarter that we had an edge. Our guys just had that look in their eyes that they weren't going to be denied."
Rushing touchdowns by Preziosa and Kennedy, both juniors, in a span of 3:30 in the second quarter sparked the Golden Tornadoes to their first county championship since 1997 when they defeated Garden City, 20-14, with Andre as their defensive coordinator.
Lawrence (9-1) meets Suffolk Division II champion Bellport (10-0) in the Class II Long Island championship game at noon this Saturday at Stony Brook University's LaValle Stadium. The Clippers have won 21 in a row and seek a sixth L.I. crown.
"We did an outstanding job of running the ball and it kept Garden City's offense off the field for 31 minutes," he said. "They played a lot of nickel defense to take away the pass and they started overloading on DiSabato so we crossed him in front of Kennedy and gave Travis the ball. It's something we put in our package way back in August and we went to it a lot against Elmont [in the semifinals]."
Not allowing the Trojans to set the tone was crucial according to DiSabato, a senior who made two key plays in the first half. His 25-yard punt return set up Preziosa's 6-yard touchdown run and his 36-yard interception return to the Garden City 25-yard line set up Kennedy's 1-yard score. "Coach Andre emphasized every day at practice how they thrive early in games," DiSabato said. "They got the ball first, but we were fired up and came out and stopped them. Getting ahead was big, but we kept our composure because we knew they could strike at any time."
Garden City quarterback Dean Gibbons threw only one interception in the first nine games, but DiSabato anticipated his second-quarter attempt to Terrance Kennedy and stepped in front of the intended receiver. "Once I caught it I just wanted to bring it back as far as I could," DiSabato said.
Gibbons was kept on the run all day by Lawrence's defensive front, which consists of seniors MaliTk Crowl and Kevin Fabrizio and juniors Keith Goodluck and Daniel Behar. "The four guys on the line did a great job," Andre said. "We didn't give him much time to think."
Despite leading by two scores, the Golden Tornadoes didn't lose an ounce of intensity for the second half. When Preziosa's made it 19-0 midway through the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown plunge, it was crystal clear which team was No. 1 and which was No. 2. "We've worked so hard all season long," senior Levy Messinetti said. "We've still got one more to go."
Bellport hasn't allowed a point in five consecutive playoff games dating back to last season and comes off a 34-0 dismantling of East Islip. "They probably have the best defensive team on Long Island," Andre said. "We're the underdog, but we'll bring everything we've got and see what happens."
