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A Few Clouds Lawrence explodes into final
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Lawrence quarterback John Kinder races into the end zone in the second quarter of last Saturday's 56-28 win over Plainedge in a Nassau Conference III semifinal at Hofstra.
Jeff Wilson/Herald
When Plainedge kicked off to Lawrence to open last Saturday’s Nassau Conference III football semifinal game, the sky over Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium was a dark shade of gray.
But it didn’t take long for the stars to come out.
Senior Kenny Barnett returned the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and the Golden Tornadoes scored on three of their first four offensive possessions on the way to a convincing 56-28 victory. Barnett added 187 yards rushing and two touchdowns and senior quarterback John Kinder had 155 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, one passing touchdown and an interception return for a score.
Third-seeded Lawrence (8-2), which avenged three straight losses to the Red Devils including a playoff semifinal in 2008, faces No. 1 Lynbrook (9-1) in the championship game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Hofstra. The Golden Tornadoes are seeking their third county title in four years, while the Owls are going for their first since 1992.
“We had a strong week of practice and it carried over into today,” Lawrence coach Lou Andre said. “We played with a sense of urgency and played great. Kenny and John and the offensive line were tremendous and the defense made some big stops.”
Plainedge, the No. 2 seed, couldn’t slow down an offense it held to a season-low three touchdowns on Oct. 24 in a 38-21 road win. Lawrence, which upped its scoring average to a Long Island-best 45.3 points per game, was running on all cylinders as soon as Kinder took his first snap from senior center Michael Stanya.
“They beat us three games in a row and we wanted to make a statement,” said Kinder, who ran 63 yards for a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage and threw a 51-yard scoring strike to sophomore Ryan Fredericks on the third snap to build a 21-0 lead just 6:14 into the game. “We have a lot of speed and we like playing on turf,” he added.
As dominant as the offense (412 yards rushing) was all day, the defense made a momentum-changing stop late in the second quarter. Plainedge (8-2) cut the margin to 14 and was looking for more when quarterback Will Crapo was stuffed by Karim Mohamed and Joel Santisteban on fourth-and-inches from the Lawrence 32. Four plays later Kinder rumbled 50 yards for a touchdown and on the ensuing possession he picked off Crapo and brought it back 22 yards for a score and a 35-7 halftime lead.
And the rout was on.
“We watched a lot of film from the first game and made some adjustments,” Andre said. “I can’t say enough about the effort and how well we executed.”
With linemen Stanya, Santisteban, Mike Reichling, Jason Delgrosso and Darian Dennis still plowing holes, Kinder had an 18-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Barnett scored from 59 and 18 yards out in the fourth. Kicker Marcos Pinto went 8-for-8 on extra-point tries, and the defense was led by Santisteban (12 tackles) and fellow senior linebacker John Cossack (six tackles, two sacks).
“The big guys up front were awesome,” Barnett said.
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