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Greater Lawrence rides Pizzuto to fourth straight win

Saturday, October, 24 By Jeff Hamrick

ANDOVER — On a day the game officials showed up an hour late, it took Greater Lawrence Regional another quarter and a half to shake off the cold and get to work itself.

Even with the late start though, Joe Pizzuto had more than enough time to power the Reggies to a 27-8 victory in a non-conference game yesterday. The junior tailback, who ran for an area record 396 yards two weeks earlier, had all but four of the team's 30rushing attempts, finishing with 163 yards and all four Greater Lawrence touchdowns.

"They said they had the game at 1:30 (instead of the scheduled 10:30 a.m. kickoff," Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis said about the officials' tardy arrival. "And we started off a little slow because of that I think. But the kids came back and played really well as the game progressed."

The Reggies (5-2) ran only four plays from scrimmage — 14 fewer than Northeast Metro — the first 13 minutes of the game. The sluggish beginning included a rare Pizzuto fumble that set up the Golden Knights at the 11 and led to a touchdown pass from Christian O'Leary to Bobby Novello with 9:21 left in the second period.

"I wasn't concentrating (on the fumble)," Pizzuto said. "I just told myself to concentrate more and not let my team down.

Pizzuto, who ran his season touchdown total to 17 while being held to 45 yards below his season average of 208 yards entering the game, carried the ball on all nine plays the Reggies ran on the ensuing possession, that lasted 5 minutes, 9 seconds and cut Northeast Metro's lead to 8-6. Pizzuto scored another touchdown and Juan Carlos Gomez added the two-point conversion run that gave Greater Lawrence the lead for good at 14-8 with 21.7 seconds left before intermission.

As has been the case all season, the 5-foot-5 Pizzuto utilized the blocking of fullback Angel Rivera and a line that averages 230 pounds. The players in front of Pizzuto routinely negate linebackers and defensive backs with blocks 10 and 15 yards downfield.

"When we line up, you can't even see (Pizzuto)," said Rivera, who had three rushes for 15 yards. "The whole line covers up everybody in the backfield. It looks like there's only six people. We all work together. It's like a family out there.

"We all work as one heartbeat. Without one person doing their job, we can't flow. If a guy misses his block nobody can take a rest. Everybody was doing their job. Without (the line) there would be no touchdowns for Joe. That's the way we work."

After a scoreless thrid quarter, Greater Lawrence secured the victory with two more Pizzuto touchdown runs of 55 and 5 yards.

"Our kids didn't fold in," Sarkis said. "That's what I'm most proud of. They came back after that slow start and strapped it up. I'm very happy with the way they responded."