58.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Lynbrook Owls take early flight
Overcome early turnover, led by 25 at halftime
Save for a few first-quarter hiccups, Lynbrook was sharp on both sides of the ball and even scored on special teams in last Saturday’s 38-20 victory over Glen Cove in a Nassau Conference III football opener at Marion St.
The defending Long Island Class III champion Owls coughed up their initial possession of 2011 but still managed five first-half touchdowns and led comfortably — by 25 — at intermission. Senior quarterback Luke Spitzer had scoring runs of 50 and 44 yards and also went the distance on a 56-yard punt return, while Lynbrook’s defense forced four turnovers, including fumble recoveries by junior Matt Mott and senior Matt Trotta that Spitzer & Co. turned into touchdowns on ensuing possessions.
“On the touchdowns runs, my linemen gave me wide-open holes,” said Spitzer, who racked up 172 all-purpose yards in the first quarter and spent much of the second half on the sideline as senior Alex Weingarten (78 yards passing, one touchdown) and junior Eduardo Martinez ran the offense. “On the punt return, everyone was calling ‘poison’ but I saw an opening, picked up the ball and tried to make a play,” Spitzer added.
Lynbrook head coach Steve LoCicero said he was “very pleased” with the performance and not surprised by the early jitters. “I think any time you start a new season with a new group of kids, there’s going to be some nerves,” he said. “We had that early, but we settled in nicely and played a solid game.”
After the second offensive snap resulted in a lost fumble, the Owls got the ball back on downs and needed only three plays to get on the scoreboard. Spitzer found nothing but daylight along the home sideline and jetted half the field to the end zone. On his second rushing score, which came after sophomore Joe Grossi’s interception, Glen Cove’s defenders were nowhere to be found.
“We’ve got seven or eight offensive linemen working with the first unit,” LoCicero said. “They all blocked well today.”
