Lawrence knocks off Hewlett

Three of top-seeded Lawrence’s first four possessions in last Saturday’s Nassau Conference III football playoff game against neighboring rival Hewlett resulted in a pair of turnovers and a punt.

But once the Golden Tornadoes got their offense in gear, there was no stopping it. They scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and found the end zone three more times in the third on the way to a 41-7 home victory. 

Senior running back Chris Collier rushed for 213 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries and junior quarterback Christian Fredericks passed for two touchdowns and ran for one as Lawrence (8-1) punched its ticket to the semifinals at Hofstra. The Bulldogs, who snapped a two-year playoff drought, finished 4-5.

“We did some nice things early on defense but we were unable to move the ball and take advantage of it,” Hewlett head coach John Palladino said. “They started to get a lot of momentum going in the third quarter and we couldn’t keep up.

“We’ve had some great wars with Lawrence over the years and took them to overtime at our place last season,” he added. “They’re always big and talented. Their four biggest weapons hurt us.”

After a scoreless opening quarter highlighted by fumble recoveries by Hewlett senior Harry Salow and junior Matt Kadosh, the Golden Tornadoes broke through with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Fredericks to senior Suquan Stays early in the second and it was 7-0 after the first of five straight successful extra points off the foot of sophomore Danny Reyes.

Fredericks added an 18-yard run and the lead was 14-0 at halftime. The third quarter belonged to Collier, who scored on runs of 4 and 8 yards and grinded out chunks of yardage along the way. He also set up Fredericks’ 5-yard touchdown pass to senior Christian Rodas. The three touchdowns came in a span of 3:05.

“Chris ran very tough,” Lawrence head coach Joe Martillotti said of Collier. “He didn’t break anything too big, but he had a lot of solid gains.”

The No. 8 Bulldogs, who won their final two regular-season games (27-7 over Division and 35-14 over Floral Park) to squeeze into the playoffs, snapped the shutout in the fourth quarter on junior Vincent Morello’s 3-yard touchdown run. Lawrence’s Jordan Vivian capped the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run. 

“We were the preseason 10-seed and beat two teams ranked ahead of us to make the playoffs for the first time in three years,” Palladino said. “We want to get to the point where we expect to make the playoffs every year.

The Golden Tornadoes will face No. 5 Bethpage in the semifinals at Hofstra this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Defending county and Long Island champion Wantagh faces Roosevelt in a rematch of last year’s title game in the other semi.

Lawrence defeated Bethpage in Week 5 at home, 35-31, after trailing by 10 in the third quarter. Collier had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third and Fredericks the game-winning 69-yard scoring run in the fourth.

“We need to have another good week of practice,” Martillotti said.