Four straight county titles!

Lawrence to face Sayville for Long Island title

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An explosive offense has long been Lawrence’s calling card, but last Friday night, even the Golden Tornadoes showed that defense wins championships.
In capturing its fourth straight Nassau Conference III crown, top-seeded Lawrence picked off five passes, returning two for touchdowns, and recorded five sacks in a convincing 49-19 victory over No. 2 Plainedge before a crowd of 2,500 at Hofstra.
“Our defense has been tremendous all year,” Lawrence head coach Joe Martillotti said. “They moved the ball well against us early and scored twice, but after that we were lights-out.”
The Golden Tornadoes (11-0) will attempt to become the first Nassau-based program to win three consecutive Long Island titles on Friday when they face Sayville (11-0) in a much-anticipated battle of unbeaten teams at Hofstra at 4:30 p.m. It will be the fourth meeting in five years between the gridiron powers.
“We’re where we want to be, and it feels great,” said senior Mike Spinelli, who was a key part of the defensive effort, with two sacks. “We have one more big game, and we know we have to play our best to beat Sayville.”

Lawrence showed its big-play ability on offense, defense and special teams in beating the Red Devils in the county finals for a fourth straight November. The shortest of its seven touchdowns was a 15-yard run by senior Jordan Fredericks, who was limited by a shoulder injury but still managed 93 yards on 20 carries and a momentum-changing touchdown pass.
After Plainedge junior quarterback Davien Kuinlan connected with Bryan Flynn for an 18-yard score with 26 seconds remaining in the first half to cut its deficit to 21-19, Fredericks stepped in under center on the ensuing possession and delivered a dagger to the Red Devils. On the final snap of the half, Fredericks danced around in the pocket, rolled right and fired a dart into the end zone to Sam Locascio for a 32-yard touchdown. Junior kicker Matt Libby, who was perfect on extra-point tries, split the uprights to give Lawrence a 28-19 lead.
“That play really brought the momentum back to us,” Spinelli said.
Plainedge scored on its first two drives, sandwiched around a dynamic 71-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Lawrence senior Tevine Johnson, and led 12-7 after the teams combined for 19 points in 52 seconds. The Golden Tornadoes moved in front for good on senior signal-caller Sean Moran’s 29-yard touchdown dash late in the first quarter.
“We were stymied a little bit on offense, but Sean busted a couple of big runs,” Martillotti said of Moran, who had a 57-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter as well.
Lawrence’s first pick-6 came with the Red Devils knocking on the door midway through the second quarter. Junior Marquan Williams deflected and caught a Kuinlan pass intended for Flynn at the 13 and returned it 87 yards for a Golden Tornadoes touchdown.
“Big plays are contagious,” said senior Simon Jones, who iced the championship with a 36-yard interception return for a touchdown with less than four minutes left.
Johnson, Fredericks and junior Victor Mintz also had interceptions, while seniors Melik Mavruk, Ishmeal Stephens and Dimitri Samuels added sacks.
“It’s exciting,” Martillotti said. “We definitely have our work cut out for us against the best Sayville team I’ve seen.”