The second seeded Lawrence High School Golden Tornadoes bounced the seventh seed Sewanhaka Indians from the playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 9, winning 42-12.
“I wish it could have turned out different,” said Indians Head Coach George Kasimatis. “We ran into a juggernaut, they were hot. We didn’t play well today and they did, they didn’t make mistakes and we made a lot.”
The Indians put themselves in a hole early. On the first play from, Lawrence’s Jordan Fredericks picked off QB Jake Mellen. Fredericks punched the ball in for the score just a few plays later to put the Golden Tornadoes up 6-0.
The Indians fumbled on the kick return and Lawrence recovered, giving them great field position. Simon Jones’ touchdown put the Golden Tornadoes up two scores who converted the two point conversion to go up 14-0.
“We could have gotten off to a better start,” said Kasimatis. “That’s probably the most powerful offense in Nassau county right now and if you give them a short field it’s probably not going to end well.”
The Indians could not get anything going on offense and allowed two long touchdowns to Lawrence’s Elijah Jones and Sam Locascio, to go down 28-0.
The Indians started to build momentum after Jacques Francois hauled in a deep pass from Mellen. It was the first time they entered Tornadoes territory. Elijah Tracy put the Indians on the board as he scored on an out route to the corner of the endzone.
The Indians forced a three-and out-and found themselves in a first and goal situation with just under a minute left, trailing 28-6. Jake Mellen threw a strike that was tipped and intercepted by Isaih McFadden and returned to midfield.
The Indians looked to limit the damage and stopped the Golden Tornadoes on three straight plays. With the ball at midfield and just nine seconds remaining in the half, it looked as if the Indians defense could hold them. Lawrence’s quarterback Joe Capobianco hurled one deep as time expired and Locascio out leaped Francois and hauled in a one handed grab in the end zone to put Lawrence up 35-6 at the half.
“The dagger to the heart was that last play, that bomb [Capobianco] threw,” said Kasimatis. “That kid number 10 [Locascio] made a great play. He went over one of my best players Jacques [Francois] so you can’t fault him. If I had to do it all over again that’s one of my kids I would want there, he just made a great play.” .
This was the Indians first playoff berth since 2010. Kasimatis believes the team is heading in the right direction.
“I think it was a stepping stone in the right direction. We got a good group of young kids and we’re excited,” he said.
