Lawrence Football Gets Payback on Lynbrook in Semifinals

One year after defeating Lawrence in the county finals, Lynbrook fell to the Golden Tornadoes Saturday in the Nassau Conference III semifinals at Hofstra University, 29-6.

It was the second time this year that Lawrence got the best of Lynbrook, defeating the Owls

“This was payback for last year,” said Lawrence captain Tyler Fredericks.

The Golden Tornadoes kept all their touchdowns in the family, with all scored by members of the Fredericks family — Jordan, Tyler and Ryan each had passing or rushing touchdowns in the game.

Turning Point: With Lawrence already up 7-6, the Golden Tornadoes had the ball down at the Lynbrook one-yard line and had been stopped on the three previous plays. On fourth down, Lawrence was able to punch the ball in on a one-yard run by Tyler Fredericks, giving the Golden Tornadoes a 14-6 lead going into halftime. 

The score gave Lawrence all the momentum going into the second half and they never looked back from that point on.

Key Quote: “Our strongest part of our game is our running game and we were never able to get it going,” Lynbrook coach Stephen Locicero said. “Today just wasn’t our day.”

Player of the Game: Lawrence quarterback Joe Capobianco threw for 160 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to freshman Jordan Fredericks.

Each time Lawrence faced a third or fourth and long situation, Capobianco was able to deliver a big play to continue the drive.

“He stepped up and did what he needed to do in crunch time,” Tyler Fredericks said.

Bottom Line: The Lynbrook defense was not able to get off the field, giving up several long pass plays and failing to stop a fake punt run on fourth and long that eventually led to another Lawrence score. 

The Lawrence defense, on the other hand, was able to shut down the Lynbrook running game. This forced the Owls to go to the air, which led to two interceptions and kept Lynbrook off the scoreboard after a first quarter touchdown.

For the Owls, it is an end to another football season, but Locicero is still proud of the effort the team gave all year.

“Six wins on the year for this team is a great job,” Locicero said. “I love this group of kids we have, there is nothing bad you can say...they were the hardest working group I have had."

No. 2 Lawrence (9-1) will move on to the conference III county finals at Hofstra. No. 3 Lynbrook finishes the season at 6-4.

Scoring:

La - R. Fredericks 7 run (Fragner kick)

Ly - Emmerich 31 yd pass from Spitzer (kick blocked)

La - T. Fredericks 1 run (Fragner kick)

La - J. Fredericks 18 pass from Capobianco (Fragner kick)

La - T. Fredericks 1 run (J. Fredericks from Capobianco)