Lawrence in semis after beating Sewanhaka

Senior quarterback Joe Capobianco was 13 of 21 for 258 yards and four touchdowns to lead Lawrence to a convincing 42-12 victory over visiting Sewanhaka last Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the Nassau Conference III playoffs. The No. 2 Golden Tornadoes will take on No. 5 Glen Cove at Hofstra University this Saturday 10 a.m.

Junior Sam Locascio had four receptions for 117 yards, and pulled in a pair of touchdowns passes, including one on the final play of the opening half that gave the Golden Tornadoes a commanding 34-6 lead. Sophomore Marquan Williams ran for 75 yards on 11 carries to lead the Lawrence rushing attack. 

Things couldn’t have started better for Lawrence. Junior Jordan Fredericks stepped in front of a Jake Mellen pass on the first play from scrimmage, picked the ball off, and returned it to the Sewanhaka 23-yard line. Four plays later, it was Fredericks taking it in from four yards out to give the Golden Tornadoes a 6-0 lead. The PAT failed.

Lawrence head coach Joe Martillotti wasn’t surprised his defense came up with a big play. “We knew that they liked to throw the ball, so we keyed on their top receivers, and bumped them at the line,” Martillotti said. “Jordan played it perfectly, and was right where he was supposed to be.”

It went from bad to worse for the Indians as Dan Reiskin’s onside kick was recovered by senior Quran Hamilton at the Sewanhaka 36. After Capobianco hooked up with Williams on consecutive plays, junior Simon Jones rumbled into the end zone from seven yards out. Capobianco called his own number on the two-point conversation to put Lawrence (8-1) up 14-0 with 7:06 to play in the opening quarter.

Late in the opening quarter, the Golden Tornadoes made it 21-0. Senior Elijah Jones caught a short pass from Capobianco, let his blockers do the work, and went 46 yards untouched into the end zone. 

It wasn’t long before Lawrence went up by four scores. After a punt gave the Golden Tornadoes the ball at their own 48-yard line, Capobianco faked left and found Locascio all alone down the right sideline. Locascio caught the ball in stride and sprinted to the end zone for a 28-0 lead.

After Sewanhaka (4-5) got on the board, the Indians picked up a little momentum and appeared ready to make it a game. But senior Isiah McFadden picked off a pass in the end zone and brought it out the Lawrence 40, setting the stage for Capobianco’s 35-yard Hail Mary pass to Locascio.

Sewanhaka head coach George Kasimatis knew the play by McFadden would be tough to overcome. “After we scored, I looked at the kids and could tell that they thought we were going to come back,” Kasimatis said. “There was no quit in the them. Lawrence made some big plays at the end of the half to stop us from getting back in the game.”

Martillotti believes Glen Cove, which advanced to the semifinals with a 28-7 victory over Bethpage, will be a worthy opponent. “They’re healthy now, and they’re playing better football than they were when we played them earlier in the season,” Martilotti said. “They like to get after it, and they tackle well. We had a lot of things go our way the first time we played.”