Sports
Lawrence Football Stunned By Visiting Bethpage
The Golden Tornadoes fall to 1-1 after 37-19 loss at home.
The Lawrence Golden Tornadoes, ranked atop Conference III in the preseason, were favored by many to take down visiting Bethpage in their Friday night football match-up. But Bethpage's bruising running game helped it pull through in a 37-19 upset victory.
“It was a matter of execution. The offense scored most of the time we had the ball. The kids blocked great and the backs ran hard and we played good defense,” said Bethpage head coach Erwin Dill. “These guys played above and beyond what I thought they could do.”
Eight different running backs combined for 288 yards on the ground for Bethpage, including four touchdowns.
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The Golden Eagles scored on its opening drive on a 14-yard run by quarterback Justin Rohr, who finished with 90 yards. A two-point conversion followed to make the score 8-0. Fullback Paul Bitetti scored the first of his two touchdowns on a four-yard run, helping Bethpage lead 16-0, and Danny Chillianis, who totaled 82 yards, scored on an eight-yard run to make the lead 23-0.
Lawrence quarterback Joey Capobianco threw a touchdown to Eddie Robinson just before halftime to cut the lead to 23-7.
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The Golden Tornadoes were stopped on fourth down on the Bethpage side of the field on consecutive drives to start the second half. The Eagles took advantage, scoring on a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Lawrence freshman Jordan Fredericks caught a 55-yard touchdown, but Bethpage soon added another score to close out the big league win. Both Ryan Fredericks, who scored a late touchdown, and brother Tyler struggled to get much going on the ground, and linebacker Chris Hercules left with a minor injury in the third quarter.
“Our middle linebacker [Hercules] got hurt, and without him, it is tough. He is the heart and soul of our defense,” said Lawrence head coach Joe Martilotti. “We bought into their game. They were a very good football team and they just bullied us around.”
Lawrence will play its first road game of the season next Saturday at Hewlett at 1:30 p.m.
