By TONY BELLISSIMO
After all, the Golden Tornadoes were solid all season and defeated defending Long Island Class II champion Garden City in the semifinals. Also, they beat South Side handily, 29-7, on Sept. 23.
But unfortunately for Lawrence, the Cyclones and senior running back Bryant Daniels in particular put it all together when it mattered the most.
Daniels ran wild, gaining a county-record 397 rushing yards on 34 carries and scoring four touchdowns as South Side came away with a 54-34 victory before 2,000 onlookers. He had touchdown runs of 34, 7, 70 and 9 yards, the last one coming early in the fourth quarter to give the Cyclones a 45-27 cushion.
I thought we played real well offensively, but it's beyond me how we gave up more points in one game than we did in the entire regular season, Lawrence coach Lou Andre said. It's a shame the season ended the way it did because these kids worked very hard and played well.
Despite allowing two touchdown runs to both Daniels and Mike Poulson, Lawrence was still alive and well at the half. With one second left in the first half, a 2-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Robert Blount to junior Sheldon Nunn and subsequent Matt Mintz extra point brought the Golden Tornadoes within 27-20.
I had confidence in our chances at 27-20, Andre said. I thought we'd keep the offense going in the second half and make the necessary adjustments on defense.
Daniels came out of the locker room as fresh as if he hadn't carried the ball at all in the first half. The third play of the third quarter resulted in a 70-yard Daniels' touchdown run and a 33-20 South Side lead.
I don't think anyone dreamed we would be this potent, Cyclones coach Walter Denton said.
Certainly not Lawrence, which also got scoring runs from senior Mikeal Butler and Anthony Decatus in the first half.
Following Daniels' third score, the Golden Tornadoes came right back with an answer. Behind the offensive line work of Ken Pellegrino, Michael Fine, Bobby Loughman, Cory Malone and center Charles Lombaro, runs by Blount, Butler, Decatus and James Taska moved the ball deep into South Side territory.
On second-and-goal from the Cyclones 5-yard line, Blount found junior tight end Brian Romanger in the end zone to make it 33-26. Mintz added the extra point and Lawrence was back in business.
But then the Golden Tornadoes got a second dose of Daniels. This time it was Robert, Bryant's twin brother. Robert Daniels had second-half touchdown runs of 2 and 44 yards and Bryant added his final touchdown late in the third as South Side pulled away. William Buskey added a late touchdown for Lawrence, which finished an impressive 9-1 after a 2-6 showing in 2000.
I'm very pleased with the season we had and I can't say enough about the seniors and what they did to turn things around, Andre said. We took a lot of heat for the season we had last year but everyone came back strong and we're looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead next season.
