Costly mistake may end Piners’ playoff chances
By Mike White
Staff Writer

FARRAH MAFFAI Lakewood quarterback Andrew Nelson hands the ball of to tailback Edmond Loney during the Piners’ loss to Freehold Township on Friday.

With its quest for a state playoff bid still alive, the Lakewood High School football team couldn’t afford any sloppy performances that might lead to a loss.

For three quarters last Friday night, the Piners took care of business.

They built a lead, played well on both sides of the ball and were 12 minutes away from extending their season.

But crucial mistakes in the fourth quarter led to a disappointing loss against host Freehold Township High School.

FARRAH MAFFAI Lakewood quarterback Andrew Nelson looks to fire the ball downfield during the Piners’ loss to Freehold Township.

The Piners turned the ball over three times in the final 12 minutes, and the Patriots capitalized to rally for a 21-18 come-from-behind victory in the nondivision game.

Freehold improved to 5-2 overall and clinched a spot in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Central Jersey Group IV State Tournament.

Lakewood, meanwhile, dropped to 3-4 and is all but eliminated from postseason play.

Lakewood hosts Red Bank Regional High School, which lost to Jackson last week, at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

"We basically fumbled the game away," first-year Lakewood coach Dave Ozierowitz said.

"We had a couple of drives in the fourth quarter where I thought we had a pretty good opportunity to score, and we turned the ball over. Those mistakes really cost us tonight."

The most crucial miscue came with about eight minutes remaining in the game.

Freehold forced a Lakewood fumble at the Piners’ 28-yard line that set up the go-ahead score.

A few plays later, junior Sirad Summerlin, who rushed for more than 150 yards, scored on a four-yard run to give the Patriots the lead for good.

Yet Lakewood had other chances in the fourth quarter and failed to produce any points.

Twice more the Piners would turn over the ball, one of those fumbles coming deep into Freehold territory.

"I think the fact that we made big mistakes in the fourth quarter is a sign that we are a young ball club," Ozierowitz said. "There’s no question that we keep getting better week after week, but we have been very inconsistent. Right now that is what we need to work on. We have some very talented athletes; we just need to perform as a team much more consistently."

Lakewood senior quarterback Andrew Nelson had his best game of the season, tossing three touchdowns. He completed 13 of 25 passes for 255 yards.

"He had a very good night," Ozierowitz said. "He executed well. Not only did he throw the ball well, he did a good job of creating with the run."

Nelson put Lakewood ahead 6-0 in the third quarter when he threw a 35-yard TD strike to junior wideout J.R. Smith.

Later in the same period he connected with senior Quadree Swain on a 95-yard scoring play.

Senior Terrance Bergstrom was on the receiving end of Nelson’s third TD pass in the fourth quarter that gave the Piners an 18-15 lead.

In addition, Nelson rushed for almost 100 yards on 10 carries.

"Offensively we played well in the second half, except for the turnovers," Ozierowitz said.

"We moved the ball against them well. We collected almost 400 yards of total offense. We just killed ourselves with the mistakes."

The Piners still have an outside chance of making the playoffs, Ozierowitz said. But he insists his squad stayed focused on this week’s meeting with Red Bank.

"I told the kids we need to beat Red Bank this week," Ozierowitz said. "We need a victory, and then we need a lot of help from other teams in the conference to have a shot at qualifying for the tournament. But our goal is to finish 6-4. We need to take it one game at a time. If we prepare well for our next opponent, that’s all we can do."