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Mostly Cloudy Owls stretch win streak to six
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Lynbrook's Travis Lock tries to break through Hewlett's Fabian Kordonovriz during the second half of the Owls' 28-14 road victory last Saturday.
Claudio Papapietro/Herald
A week after knocking Plainedge from the ranks of the unbeaten, Hewlett rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to pull even with undefeated Lynbrook early in the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s Conference III game.
But as they have so many times this year, the Owls dug deep and made big plays when it mattered most. Senior quarterback Tom DeNapoli busted up the middle for a 31-yard touchdown run with 4:32 left to put them ahead to stay in a 28-14 road victory over the Bulldogs.
DeNapoli rushed for 231 yards carries and scored all four touchdowns for first-place Lynbrook, which upped its record to 6-0 with home games against Glen Cove and Plainedge remaining. Hewlett, which slipped to 3-3, got a touchdown pass and a scoring run from junior quarterback Alex Kahn.
“We’ve been in tough situations a bunch of times and came back,” DeNapoli said. “I put Hewlett up there with anyone we’ve played. It was a tough matchup and another big win for us.”
Lynbrook, coming off a victory against previously unbeaten Sewanhaka, took a 14-0 lead into the fourth quarter but saw its lead evaporate quickly. A punt out of its own end zone gave the Bulldogs great field position at the 33 and they needed only three plays to cash in. Kahn hooked up with senior Jason Canales on a 28-yard touchdown pass to get the hosts on the board with 10:37 remaining.
Hewlett junior kicker Ross Kleinrock missed a rare extra-point try but made up for it on the ensuing kickoff when it skipped off an opponent and junior Gabe Shapiro pounced on it at the Lynbrook 34. The offense converted a clutch fourth-and-six when senior Roey Shmuel had a 23-yard catch to set up first-and-goal. Two runs by junior Jake Geiger moved the ball to the 1, and Kahn took it in from there. After a two-point conversion run by Geiger it was suddenly 14-14 with 8:17 to go.
“They’re a well-coached option football team and not easy to stop,” Lynbrook coach Steve LoCicero said. “We’ve got nine juniors on defense and I thought we did a tremendous job. We got some key turnovers.”
The eventual winning drive took seven plays and covered 62 yards, the back half of which came on a counter play the Owls run often. “Jon [Espinosa] threw a great block to spring me,” DeNapoli said.
Neither defense gave up much in a first half that would’ve been scoreless if not for two huge plays by the Owls. Midway through the opening quarter they capitalized on a turnover to take a 7-0 lead. Junior Chris King’s first of two fumble recoveries came at Hewlett’s 4-yard line and set up DeNapoli’s touchdown plunge from a yard out.
LoCicero then broke out the bag of tricks with halftime looming and the ball at the Bulldogs 35, and the Owls worked the hook-and-ladder to perfection. Senior Chris McGrane caught senior T.J. Virgona’s pass at the 17 and then pitched the ball to DeNapoli, who had a clear path to the end zone.
Lynbrook junior Mike Kozlakowski and Hewlett senior Dylan Pastor each had three sacks.
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