English gridders win shootout over Lawrence

LAWRENCE – Lynn English coach Peter Holey came into his team’s season opener against Lawrence at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday not really knowing how his young squad was going to perform under the bright lights for the first time.Well, Holey learned that his new quarterback is going to be a good one, that his running game is still a deadly weapon and most of all that his team has a ton of resiliency.Trailing 19-6 late in the first half, the Bulldogs scored twice in the final 91 seconds of the second quarter to tie the game and then used a pair of Tyler McDonald to Travonne Berry-Rogers touchdown passes in the third quarter to take a lead they never relinquished in a 40-38 win over the Lancers.”I really love this bunch of kids,” Holey said. “These kids have a lot of guts and I think they grew up in that second quarter when they rallied. They didn’t point any fingers when we made mistakes and they kept fighting.”McDonald was outstanding in his first varsity start, going 7-of-12 for 158 yards and three touchdowns through the air and adding another 65 and a touchdown on the ground.”Tyler is a great athlete and we’re going to do a lot of great things with him,” Holey said.As it turned out, English needed every one of its 40 points as the Lancers went toe-to-toe with them for all 44 minutes. Lawrence quarterback Nick Elwell was brilliant, throwing for 251 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Mike Calzetta, as he kept the Lancers in the game.But it was the English defense that did the job at the end, stopping a game-tying 2-point conversion attempt with 2:26 left and then forcing a turnover inside the final minute to seal the win.”We’re going to get better defensively,” Holey said. “But they made the plays when it was needed.”The Bulldogs got a gift to start the game when Lawrence fumbled the opening kickoff and English recovered at the Lancer 37. Five plays later, Sam Hill went 10 yards up the middle to give English a quick 6-0 lead.English drove to the Lawrence 18 but was stopped on downs. The Lancers then struck quickly as a 51 yard screen pass from Elwell to Francis Nova got Lawrence into English territory.A 17-yard fade route to Calzetta put the ball at the three before Miguel Rodriguez ran it in from the Lancers version of the Wildcat package. Jean Zorilla’s extra point made it 7-6 with 47 ticks left in the first.English then fumbled the ensuing short kickoff and Lawrence recovered at the Bulldogs 38. Elwell didn’t waste much time in jumping on the chance as he threw a strike to a wide open Calzetti down the left sideline to make it 13-6 Lancers after one.The Bulldogs punted on their first drive of the second quarter, pinning Lawrence inside its 20. But a facemask penalty gave the Lancers field position and they took advantage when Nova caught a screen pass and took it 68 yards to the house for a 19-7 lead.It stayed 19-7 until the final moments of the half when English put together a seven play, 85-yard drive that ended when McDonald threw a strike to Melvin Tavares for a 50-yard touchdown to make it 19-12.Moments later, English got the ball back when Elwell fumbled inside his own 10. MacDonald scored on the next play and the Bulldogs suddenly found themselves tied going to the half.”Those two scores at the end of the half were huge. It gave us some confidence,” Holey said.English got the ball to start the second half and drove right down field on the hard running of Jermaine Patterson (90 yards) and MacDonald. The junior quarterback then capped the drive with a perfect throw to a streaking Berry-Rogers in the left corner of the end zone to give English the lead at 26-19 with 7:28 left in the third.Lawrence’s answer was swift as Rodriguez returned Cory Burt’s kick to the Lancer 48. Six plays later, Elwell hit Calzetti for a second time, this one from 16 yards out, to tie the game at 26-26.The Bulldogs returned fire late in the third as Berry-Rogers showed his basketball skills, outjumping a Lawrence defender on a 37