Sports
Redmen Run Over Lawrence, 38-20
Eddie Motovu (3 touchdowns) and James Sullivan (2 touchdowns) combined for 154 rushing yards.
Tewksbury High scored all of its points in the second half as the Redmen trounced Lawrence 38-20, to celebrate Homecoming at Doucette Field on Saturday afternoon.
Down 6-0 at the break, Eddie Matovu returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to spark a Tewksbury squad that couldn’t get anything going in the first half.
After Tom Casey’s two-point conversion, Lawrence fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Redmen took over at the Lawrence 16.
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Matovu finished off the drive with a five yard scamper, and Johnny Aylward ran in the two point conversion making it 16-6.
“We got some huge plays right out of the gate in the second half,” said Tewksbury head coach Brian Aylward.
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Matovu finished the afternoon with 89 yards off only eight carries. He also had a four yard reception.
“Eddie Matovu did some really good stuff,” Aylward said. “We’ve been looking for him to make big plays."
Later in the third, James Sullivan pounded in a two yard touchdown run as well as a two point conversion that made it 24-6.
After Lawrence got back in the game with a five yard hookup between sophomore quarterback Nelson Valerio and wide-out Franger Baez, Matovu struck again.
This time it was a 42 yard dash down the right sideline that Matovu scored on to make the score 31-14.
Baez impacted the game once again in the fourth quarter. With time winding down, he caught a second touchdown pass which made it 31-20 with 1:50 left in the game. He ended up with 111 yards from seven receptions.
“There were a couple of throws and catches that were as good as anyone we’ve played,” Aylward said of Lawrence’s offensive weapons. “That tandem could do that in any league in the state,” he continued.
As the Redmen were trying to kill the clock, James Sullivan broke a 42 yard touchdown run, his second of the game. This set the final score at 36-20. Sullivan finished the day with 65 yards from his 10 carries.
Johnny Aylward threw the ball only six times, completing two throws for 12 yards. He was sacked four times, all on third downs in the first half.
Tewksbury improved to 3-4 on the year, but more importantly, they are 2-0 in conference games.
Lawrence fell to 0-7, a factor that Aylward addressed with his team.
“I’ll give Lawrence a ton of credit,” he said. “This team is not concerned with records, they’re here to fight,” he told his team at halftime.
Next week, another huge conference game looms as the Redmen will host North Andover on Saturday.
“I think they’re one of the stronger teams in this league,” Aylward said of the Scarlet Knights. North Andover is 3-3 overall and 2-0 in conference games in its first year in the Merrimack Valley Small Conference.
North Andover is coming off a 35-0 win against Methuen. Saturday’s game kicks off at 1:30pm.
After that, the Redmen will play a pair of conference games against Methuen and Dracut before closing out the season on Thanksgiving at Wilmington.
