Ground attack keys Lynbrook upset of Lawrence

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A formidable ground attack and some gale force wind gusts proved to be the perfect formula for Lynbrook to brew one of many upsets on the Nassau County gridiron last Saturday.

The seventh-seeded Owls built a three-touchdown halftime lead, extended it early in the third quarter and held on to stun defending Conference III champion Lawrence, 29-27, for their fourth victory in the last five weeks. Senior Jonathan Cabral-Martin rushed for 283 yards and three touchdowns and also made Lynbrook’s biggest defensive play, breaking up a potential game-tying two-point conversion pass with a minute remaining.

“It’s a great win for this group of kids,” Lynbrook head coach Steve LoCicero said. “We’re playing our best football at the right time and it was our most disciplined game of the year. We limited our mistakes and did an outstanding job keeping the ball away from their offense.

“We ran out of a gas a little bit towards the end, but we played so hard to get to that point,” he added. “And you’ve got to give Lawrence credit. They got themselves back into it.”

The Owls (5-4) advanced to face top-seeded Plainedge (9-0) in the semifinals at Hofstra this Saturday at 5 p.m. The Golden Tornadoes, the No. 2 seed, finished 7-2 after winning their first seven including a 36-22 decision over Lynbrook on Sept. 15.

“We ran the ball well against them the first time, but we had some critical fumbles,” LoCicero said. “We felt if we could run it that way again and cut out the mistakes, we’d have a good chance.”

Senior Dominic Barbuto led Lynbrook’s defense with 18 tackles and a sack.

After a scoreless opening quarter, the visitors exploded for 21 points in the second. Senior Tyler Heaney, who enjoyed a breakout game with 98 yards on 12 carries, had a 12-yard touchdown run to get the scoreboard digits moving and the Owls’ sideline fired up. The offensive front of James Murray, Ethan Marcus, Anthony Andrews, Jack Dorney and Henry Quilca helped set the tone.

“I thought it was huge to score first, and we also felt we needed to score often,” said LoCicero, who’s assisted by Neil Giordano, Ed Parenteau, Dan Quinn, Bill Belmont, Brian Redash and Greg Cody.

Cabral-Martin had touchdown runs of 28 and 4 yards in the second. Heaney added the two-point conversion run on the latter, following a wind-blown missed extra point on Cabral-Martin’s first score that put LoCicero into two-point mode.

After Cabral-Martin’s 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, the Owls went for the deuce again and Heaney delivered for a 29-0 lead. “I just felt the way the wind was whipping, we needed to go for two,” LoCicero said.

The Golden Tornadoes finally began to solve Lynbrook’s defense behind senior quarterback Christian Fredericks, who had a passing touchdown in each of the last two quarters along with a rushing score. Norell Folawiyo got the hosts within a conversion of getting even with a 3-yard touchdown with a minute to go, but Lawrence’s attempt to force overtime was thwarted by Cabral-Martin.