Following a tough, 34-33 loss to Holy Cross on homecoming last week, the Pirates put in a strong week of practice en route to a 57-28 thumping of Lawrence (0-6) on Friday night to move to 5-1 on the season.
“We worked hard this week,” head coach Mario Patrizi said. “Last week against Holy Cross, the one thing we couldn’t do, was run out the clock. If we’re gonna make a run, you’ve got to win the game up front. You’ve got to be able to run the football. I’ve got to give our kids a lot of credit this week. Sometimes a tough loss brings out the best in you. We used it as a teaching tool.”
The Pirates started hot and never looked back en route to scoring the most points in a single game under coach Patrizi. The previous high was 55 in a 55-0 win over Robbinsville in 2014.
“It’s not really a loss if you learn from it,” quarterback Shaun Davilla said. “That’s what we’ve been hearing from the coaches all week. We went out and played really hard today.”
On the opening drive of the game, the Pirates went 84 yards and capped it with a three-yard run from Davilla, his first of two on the night. The drive killed almost half of the first quarter clock.
Cinnaminson was moving the ball deep in Lawrence territory after a Cardinals turnover on downs when a Davilla pass was intercepted by Davon Hemingway, who returned the pick 80 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at seven.
The Pirates went back on top 14-7 with another three-yard run from Davilla. Lawrence tied the game one final time at 14 when Hemingway rushed for a 10-yard score.
From that point on, it was all Pirates, who scored eight touchdowns on nine drives tonight.
“The front play, especially the offensive line. We really got back to that this week. Anytime you have to throw the ball 30 times in a football game, that’s not a good thing. That’s what we did last week and Shaun’s (Davilla) capable of doing that, but you gotta eat the clock up a little bit. We’re capable of throwing the ball with the best of them, but you have to have a mix.”
Paul Silver got in on the scoring for Cinnaminson, rumbling 14 yards to the end zone from the backfield. This score gave the Pirates a 21-14 lead that they would not relinquish.
At this point in the game, the Pirates offense was just getting started. Frank Stepnowski scored on a seven-yard run and a one-yard run on back-t0-back drives before Lawrence could move the game to 35-21 at halftime. The Cardinals scored as time expired in the second quarter on a 30-yard pass from Brandon West to Tanner Adamczyk.
“In practice, we had a hell of a week,” Stepnowski said. “We really worked hard. Today was all about the line. They blew the holes open. They were there on every play, working hard. They did not give up. We just executed.”
The Pirates opened the second half scoring with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Davilla to Stepnowski. Rashad Raymond added a 43-yard touchdown run and backup quarterback Mike McAndrews punctuated the victory with a one-yard keeper to make it 57-21.
“We have a running game,” Stepnowski said. “We have a passing game. We have a very mobile quarterback. We have a lot of weapons. That makes it very easy for us, but difficult for other teams.”
The Cardinals scored with 14 seconds left in the game on an 8-yard pass from backup quarterback to Ryan Kaelblein to Hemingway to bring the final score to 57-28.
“Defensively, we’ve still gotta sure some things up,” Patrizi said. “We are still a little tentative.”
The Pirates have a bye next week and will return to the field on Friday, October 30 at home to host Burlington City at 7pm.
“Burlington City is going to be very athletic,” Patrizi said. “They always play us tough. Last year was a battle. The final score was 35-12, but we scored one late. They’re well coached. We’re gonna get better. We just take it one game at a time.”
[…] off their bye week, the Pirates had plenty of time to relish their 57-28 win over Lawrence, while also preparing for the final two games of the regular season prior to the […]