By Brian Dessart
A pass from quarterback Tony Lopez to 6'2 receiver Sheldon Nunn was knocked away at the 3-yard line as time expired, giving the Generals their first county championship.
Going into the Nov. 24 matchup at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium, MacArthur knew it was facing a tough Lawrence squad. The Golden Tornadoes had defeated the Generals, 26-12, in an Oct. 12 regular-season contest.
We have to stick with our game plan, MacArthur coach Bobby Fehrenbach said before the game. Lawrence will make you earn your drives. And how right he was. In the championship game, Lawrence held the Generals to 155 yards of total offense.
MacArthur, which is located in Levittown, displayed the early fire, but the game was a defensive battle throughout, remaining scoreless until the last two seconds of the first half.
The Generals had a third-and-four at Lawrence's 11-yard line, but MacArthur's quarterback, Nick Manfredo, was sacked by Stewart Johnson for a loss of eight yards. With time winding down, MacArthur kicker Steve Savin hit the goalpost crossbar on a 38-yard field goal attempt and the ball bounced through, putting MacArthur up by a score of 3-0 at halftime.
With 1:11 left in the third quarter, Lawrence answered. With MacArthur set to punt, Golden Tornado Chris Colliniates jetted into the backfield and blocked the kick. The ball bounced around until Nunn, with magnetic hands, picked it up at the 4-yard line and ran it into the end zone for a Lawrence touchdown. After a long, high extra point by Matt Mintz that sailed over the nets behind the goalpost, Lawrence jumped ahead 7-3.
But Lawrence had some tough luck in the fourth quarter. With 6:50 left to play, running back Anthony Decatus took a handoff and threw a pass that was intercepted by the Generals' Jimmy Nally, who ran the ball back 53 yards to the Lawrence 16. Then, with 4:40 left, Nick Tintle drove the ball in on a 5-yard run, and the extra point put MacArthur ahead, 10-7.
But the game was far from over. With 2:49 left, Lawrence lined up in punt formation, but MacArthur was assessed a five-yard penalty, which brought Lawrence closer to a first down, with a fourth-and-11. The Golden Tornadoes scratched the idea of punting and Lopez completed a 13-yard pass to Nunn, keeping Lawrence alive.
After driving to MacArthur's 19-yard line, Lawrence used its final timeout with eight seconds remaining. On fourth down, on what would be the final play of the game, Lopez passed again to Nunn, but the ball was batted out of bounds by a MacArthur defender as time expired.
Lawrence was able to hold MacArthur to only two pass completions for the entire game, while forcing two interceptions. The Tornadoes' Brian Romanger caught two passes for 23 yards, while Nunn caught two for 20 yards.
The Tornadoes finished the season with a record of 8-2. They also fell short last year, losing in the county championships game to South Side.
Lawrence last won the Nassau County Championship in 1997, with a 20-14 victory over Garden City.
