NORTH ANDOVER — North Andover High senior Nick Oswald had a night to remember in the Knights' 56-28 thrashing of the Dracut High Middies.
He rushed for 402 yards. Please note, that is not a misprint.
Read More »
Football, 11/02/12 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LAWRENCE — All night long, Mike Yameen was forced to endure watching the ghosts of seasons past.
But this time around it didn't hurt, sting or irritate. This time, it soothed..
After seven weeks of frustration, the Lancers watched the Dracut defense melt and give up huge chunks of yardage on 3rd-and-long — the ultimate bane of Lawrence's football existence over past seasons.
Lawrence moved the chains on 8 of 13 third downs and 1 of 2 fourth down situations, claiming its first victory of the year, 20-7, over the Middies.
"It was good to see. We made a million mistakes again," said coach Yameen, whose Lancers were flagged 9 times for a whopping 105 yards in penalties on the night. "But we finally got the job done."
Trigger man Nelson Valerio enjoyed a monster night, hitting 15 of 22 passes for 275 yards and all three TDs. Most of that damage was done with his 6-foot-1 senior book ends, George Urena and Franger Baez, who combined to catch nine balls for 181 yards.
"They're nice. I mean outstanding," said Valerio. "We were faster, bigger and stronger out there, and we took advantage of it. We thought we'd do well there, and we did."
Get up, stay up: As you can imagine, keeping the focus as you stumble through seven straight losses to start the season.
"It's been tough on them, tough on us," said Yameen, who tended to some disciplinary issues last week and put them behind his team this week.
The Lancers kept it together, though, with a solid practice week and kept their minds on business.
"Our coaches, our players, our family, we came to practice this week with our head up," said Valerio. "We'll play for pride, respect, we're not done yet."
Yameen figures the first win might launch a mini-win avalanche.
"Now, we're just looking for the winning divisional record," he said. "We can go 3-2, we're looking to win on Thanksgiving and make it a 4-game win streak to end the year."
Read More »
Football, 10/26/12 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
