Lynbrook beats Lawrence in Conference III county final

Travis Lock was a real spitfire out of the backfield, and Luke Spitzer played lockdown defense.

The combination earned No. 1 Lynbrook its first county title since 1992 with a 39-14 win over No. 2 Lawrence in the Nassau Conference III final Friday night at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium. The Owls will face Suffolk champion Sayville at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Hofstra for the Long Island title.

Lynbrook (10-1) avenged its only loss of the season, 23-22, at Lawrence in Week 7, and also a 41-7 loss to Lawrence in last year's county final.

Lock rushed for 269 yards and three touchdowns (he also had two TD runs called back because of penalties). Quarterback Paul Magloire added 88 rushing yards and three touchdowns - a 1-yarder with eight seconds left in the first half and a pair of 3-yard runs in the fourth quarter. He also ran for a two-point conversion.

Magloire and Lock accounted for 38 of the Owls' 39 points. The Owls didn't complete a pass in the game, but amassed 441 rushing yards.

"Our o-line did a great job," Lock said. "They make the holes and I make the cuts."

This one was a laugher by the fourth quarter. Lynbrook coach Steve LoCicero got a Gatorade bath with a few minutes still on the clock.

LoCicero said: "We're so focused on what we're trying to do running the ball that it's only a matter of time before we hit a few holes."

Lock scored on a 15-yard run on an option left to make it 26-14 with 3:24 left in the third quarter. The touchdown, which capped an eight-play, 93-yard drive, took just 2:53 off the clock despite being all runs.

Spitzer intercepted a Samson Bialostok pass on the first play of the ensuing drive. He added another interception off a teammate's shoe on Lawrence's next drive, and also recorded a sack. Mike Kozlakowski added three sacks and two pass breakups, as Lawrence (8-3) was held to its lowest point total since a loss in Week 3 loss at Hewlett.

"The defense stepped up big," Magloire said. "They gave us the ball back in good areas and we went from there."

Lock opened the scoring on a 24-yard burst up the gut on the first play of the second quarter, but was stuffed in the backfield on the conversion try.

Lawrence responded with Ryan Fredericks' 1-yard TD run. It capped a nine-play drive that was kept alive when Bialostok hit Seiddrik Ervin on a 34-yard fade route down the left side on third-and-16. Marcos Pinto's PAT made it 7-6 with 8:41 to play in the second quarter.

Pinto then dribbled an onside kick down the middle of the field, and he recovered it himself on the Lynbrook 47-yard line. But on the first play of the drive, Danny Grossi recovered a fumble for Lynbrook on its own 36 after a completed pass.

That led to Lock's second touchdown, a 9-yard run on a sweep left. Magloire added a two-point conversion to make it 14-7. Lawrence tied it on Ervin's 26-yard TD reception from Bialostok, but Magloire gave Lynbrook a 20-14 halftime lead when he pounded it in from a yard out with eight seconds left in the second quarter.

Said Magloire: "We just said 'Keep grinding, just keep pounding it.' "

And they did just that.

Lynbrook had the right combination to lock down a title.