LYNN — The Lynn English Bulldogs continue to roll, improving to 3-1 after a 30-19 win over Greater Lawrence Tech (2-2) at Manning Field Friday night.
The Bulldogs showed their resilience throughout the evening. Just look at the second quarter.
Greater Lawrence Tech scored an 18-yard touchdown from star running back Gustavo Varela (195 yards rushing) to cut its deficit to 16-13 with 1:04 remaining in the first half.
English started with the ball on its own 40-yard line with one timeout. You could say, what the hosts did next was special.
Quarterback Jaiden Rosario (10-for-19 192 yards, 2 TD) completed back-to-back passes to Zamari Omosefe for a total of 18 yards, with Omosefe having the IQ to step out of bounds to stop the clock.
Then, the following play, Rosario found Limbert Thomas, who made his first defender miss before showing off his speed. He beat his remaining defenders to the endzone to make it 24-13 after a two-point conversion from Xavier Beauchamp.
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs started to load the box to try and slow down Varela. They found success, holding him to 23 yards rushing in the third quarter.
English showed its defense can get the job done, too. In the first half, the Bulldogs’ defense scored, thanks to freshman lineman Aaden Soto. Greater Lawrence had a fourth-down opportunity and a throw was picked off by Soto, who ran it back 47 yards to the house.
But when the Bulldogs were up by five points with 5:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, they needed to come up with a fourth-and-5 stop – and they did. On an end-around, English’s Jordan Em made a timely tackle to force a turnover on downs. His team ran down the clock and finished with a Beauchamp 4-yard touchdown.
Other highlights included Shane Knowlton-Simard picking off Zion Padilla to end the third quarter. The Bulldogs got the evening started with Rosario finding Knowlton-Simard for 29 yards before reconnecting with him for a 39-yard touchdown to open the scoring.
English will travel to Revere on Thursday with kickoff slated for 6 p.m.
