LAWRENCE — Backs ran hard, defenders swarmed to the football, the quarterback and receivers meshed and executed.
For a team trailing 28-0 in the fourth quarter at the time, those were all signs of encouragement for Emilio Colon in his first night as the Lawrence High football varsity head coach.
The first three quarters will likely keep Colon up at night.
On a night where neither team punted, Lawrence just found ways to inflict damage on itself.
“We made our mistakes, and we found out we’re a young team,” said Colon. “We graduated 22 seniors last year. For whatever reason, the outcome wasn’t what we wanted. A lot of the mistakes we made were mental mistakes. We’re a young team. We’re going to get better.”
Just three plays into the season, English got on the board with a sweet 59-yard TD connection from Jaiden Rosario to Division 1 recruit Shane Knowlton-Simard.
The hole grew to 14-0 following a turnover when Xavier Beauchamp rattled off a trio of Lancer defenders in a 41-yard dash.
Beauchamp scored from three yards out in the second quarter, before Limbert Thomas pushed things to 28-0 on the second play of the fourth, before Lawrence finally found some life.
“One thing about this team is we don’t give up. It’s the culture we are trying to build,” said Colon. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”
The fight the Lancers showed was encouraging, especially considering the deficit.
Lawrence marched 61 yards on nine straight runs, closed out by Eli Santell’s four-yard TD, the first score of the Colon Era.
And after a stop on downs, Osmaldy Martinez hit pretty throws to Waldy Guerrero (22 yards) and Yariel Corsino (11) to set up Edwin Perez on a 2-yard TD plunge.
“We didn’t come out fast out of the gate, and we just weren’t locked in,” said the junior Martinez. “After halftime, I think we settled in, it was just too late.”
Santell played a strong game on both sides of the ball. The Lancers also got hard running from junior Thomas Rodriguez, who rushed 10 times for 40 yards – all right between the tackles.
Consistency on offense – two turnovers and 202 total yards – will certainly be a point of emphasis as the Lancers now go on a bye week.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to string together more than just two plays,” Colon said.