Roosevelt holds off Lawrence

In his Nassau County football debut, former Brentwood star Jude Innocent rushed for 316 yards and five touchdowns as Roosevelt snapped Lawrence’s 20-game winning streak in Week 1.

Last Saturday, the dynamic senior transfer helped the Rough Riders, four-time defending Conference IV champions, end the Golden Tornadoes’ string of four straight Conference III titles. Innocent carried 39 times for 189 yards, including 50 in the final 6:26 when fourth-seeded Roosevelt burned the clock and held on for a 28-20 victory in a first-round playoff matchup.

“We really weren’t sure how much Jude was going to give us today,” Roosevelt head coach Joe Vito said. “He’s pretty banged up, but he stepped up and the line did a great job in front of him.

“We didn’t want to let Lawrence get another possession,” he added. “They had momentum at the end.”

The Golden Tornadoes (4-5), who were denied a trip to the semifinals at Hofstra for the first time since 2005, punted on fourth-and-10 from their own 41 with just under seven minutes remaining and put their trust in a defense that forced Roosevelt to punt on three consecutive possessions. 

“The game was indicative of our season,” Lawrence head coach Joe Martillotti said. “We were finally healthy and probably played our most complete game of the year. We were hoping to get another crack [to score] and force overtime, but we couldn’t get the defensive stop at the end.

“Kudos to Roosevelt,” he added. “They did things they hadn’t done all year. We kept them from making big plays, but they managed to sustain drives and limited our touches.”

Of Innocent’s 10 carries in the final six-plus minutes, by far the biggest was a 16-yard gain on third-and-7 from midfield that kept the chains and the clock moving. He also ran for five yards after each of Lawrence’s two timeouts in the final 2:01, including the game-sealing first down. 

“We had a talented group,” Martillotti said. “It’s frustrating we were banged up and inconsistent all season.”

Though Innocent was held out of the end zone, the Rough Riders got two touchdowns apiece from Quran Simmons and Chukwuma Ukwu. 

Roosevelt took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards on 15 plays to lead 7-0. Junior quarterback Stephen Vailes threw a perfect touch pass just over an outstretched defensive back to Simmons for a 9-yard touchdown with 3:44 remaining in the opening quarter. 

The teams combined for 21 points in the second. Vito pulled out the bag of tricks and the Rough Riders led 14-0 after a hook-and-ladder from Gianni Knight to Simmons resulted in a 27-yard touchdown. Senior Marquan Williams answered with his first of two touchdowns to cut the margin in half, but the hosts stung Lawrence with Ukwu’s 1-yard score with 21 seconds left. Vailes kept that drive alive with an 18-yard run on fourth-and-9.

Down 28-7, the Golden Tornadoes made it a one-score game entering the fourth with senior Victor Mintz’s 60-yard touchdown grab and Williams’ 2-yard touchdown run.