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Lawrence shuts out Malden

Friday, September, 18 By Kyle Gaudette
Correspondent

LAWRENCE — You would have to go back eight years to find the last time the Lawrence Lancers and Malden Golden Tornados met on the football field.  The two teams opened the 2008 season with a defensive struggle that Lawrence ultimately won 13-7.

Lawrence head coach Mike Yameen was entering his fourth season at the time of that contest. In front of a packed home crowd  of about 800 at Veterans Memorial Stadium, Yameen's defense played another huge role in winning the rematch eight years in the making, 12-0.

"Our defense played very well," said Yameen after the game. "I don't know how many turnovers we had, we must of had five or six. Shawn Santos had a really great game for us."

The senior defensive tackle Santos was all over the field tonight for the Lancers. The big man showed off his soft hands with an interception early in the third quarter, and forced a fumble to go along with a half dozen tackles.

Santos was just one key member of a Lancer defense that snatched three interceptions by Malden starting quarterback Andrew Papa. Papa's first passing attempts in both halves resulted in interceptions.

The Lancers not only confused Malden with their different defensive schemes, but also their fans. Lebron James, Taco Bell, and Honey Dew are just a few of the logo's plastered on signs that give the Lancer's their defensive assignments.   

"We use a lot of visuals so the kids can get the calls better," said Yameen when asked for the reasoning behind the signs. "We went with the cards for defense just for visuals. Hand signals have been a problem in the past so we wanted to try out the cards this year."

The Lancers were not derailed by the loss of star running back Kenny Richards. The senior captain sustained an injury last week at Lowell and was not able to compete in tonight's matchup.

Darryl Munoz filled in admirably for Richards in the backfield. He ran 13 times for 44 yards and the first TD of the game. QB Ismael Jenkins also tossed a touchdown pass for insurance to speedy Luis Crispin to ice it.  

 Lawrence will now gear up for a matchup next week against conference rival Billerica. 

Despite being a non-conference opponent, Yameen knows the importance of tonight's win, "They're good. They're a good team from a good league. It's a division one team and it's a big win for us."