Big finale for Lawrence

Junior Jordan Fredericks ran for 123 yards and scored three touchdowns, and senior quarterback Joe Capobianco passed for two scores and ran for another to lead Lawrence to a convincing 42-14 road win over Bethpage. Brothers Simon and Elijah Jones combined for 25 tackles to lead the defense.

With the victory, the Golden Tornadoes locked up the second seed in the Nassau Conference III playoffs. Lawrence (7-1) will host Sewanhaka (4-4) this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Golden Tornadoes won 40-27 when the teams met in late September.

Lawrence, which held a 21-7 lead at the half, extended its lead early in the second half after forcing a fumble on the first play of the third quarter. 

On the following play, Capobianco hit Fredericks for a 39-yard gain to bring the ball to the Bethpage two-yard line. Simon Jones then bulled his way in for the score. Dan Reiskin, who has converted 14 straight PATs, split the uprights to extend Lawrence’s lead to 28-7.

The Golden Eagles answered with their only sustained drive of the afternoon, going 71 yards in 12 plays with senior Anthony Herman capping things off with a two-yard touchdown run. Bethpage’s only other score came 13 seconds into the contest after it recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff deep in Lawrence territory.

The defense played a big part in putting Bethpage away for good. With 3:39 remaining in the third quarter, junior Melik Mavruk hit Bethpage quarterback Christian Ferruzza as he released the ball, and Elijah Jones picked off the fluttering ball at the Bethpage 42-yard line.

Lawrence head coach Joe Martillotti was pleased with the performance by the defense. “They’re a run-oriented team, so we knew we’d have to load up the box,” Martillotti said. “I thought the defense played very well as a unit. Stopping their running game gave our offense a lot of possessions, and a lot of opportunities to score.”

Lawrence needed seven plays to find the end zone again. After sophomore Marquan Williams did most of the work to get the ball deep into Bethpage territory, Capobianco, who finished 14 of 25 for 247 yards, found junior Sam Locascio in the back of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown reception.

Fredericks put the icing on the cake when he caught a short pass from Capobianco, followed some terrific blocks, made a few would-be tacklers miss, and then put on the afterburners for an 82-yard touchdown. Junior Sean Moran had a solid game, catching four passes for 64 yards.

Martillotti believes his team is ready for the playoffs. “We’ve gotten better each week, and have improved a lot on defense,” he said. “Moving Jordan to the backfield has forced teams to pay attention to the running game, and has opened up our passing game. After losing to Plainedge, we did a lot of reevaluating, and moved guys around. We have the right guys in the right spots now.”