High school football: Lawrence Academy too much for St. Sebastian’s

NEEDHAM – In a season of developing new traditions as a sort of revenge tour, Lawrence Academy has started to do a clap for each win in the postgame huddle following a victory. By spoiling St. Sebastian’s homecoming game Saturday afternoon, the Spartans are up to three.

Just a week removed from putting only seven points on the board, the No. 4 Lawrence Academy (3-1) offense responded in a big way as six different players scored touchdowns in a 42-27 win over No. 5 St. Sebastian’s (1-3) in a suspenseful Independent School League bout.

Ryan Puglisi took advantage of his limited time at QB in a dual-starter system, leading the way with 158 yards for three touchdowns on 8-of-9 passing. Matt Ragan (4 receptions, 148 yards, 2 TDs) was the primary beneficiary of that, pairing with red-zone rushing success and timely defensive execution to overcome a fierce charge from Braedan Donovan (299 passing yards, 2 TDs) and the St. Sebastian’s offense.

Considering those three postgame claps match the programs’ total amount of wins over its previous two seasons, the Spartans are feeling good early on.

“It’s a surreal feeling because we weren’t a team that was expected to win a lot of games these past two years,” Puglisi said. “We come out here, and we’re on a roll. It’s definitely special being a part of this team.”

No lead was too comfortable in this one, as most of the game was separated by just one score. And for as effective as the offense proved by putting up 42 points, the defense withstood multiple tests to help build and preserve that advantage.

After Donovan led a drive to even the score in the first quarter, Gavin Hatfield’s interception return to the Arrows 9-yard-line in the second set up a Luke Reynolds touchdown run from three yards out for a 14-7 lead. A 21-13 lead in the third quarter was then protected with the defensive unit allowing Donovan only 15 passing yards despite racking up 204 in the first half, and even picked him off a second time (Tucker Brown) just before Puglisi found Ragan for a 77-yard catch-and-run touchdown to make it 28-13.

St. Sebastian’s regained its mojo in the fourth quarter by cutting the deficit to 28-20 on a 15-yard pass from Donovan to Zion Simmons with just over 10 minutes left, but that’s when it was the Spartans offense’s turn.

Evan Thompson, who ran in a touchdown in the second quarter, broke a tackle on a modest throw from Puglisi to rip off a 49-yard gain. Felix Figueroa ran in a 3-yard TD the next play. St. Sebastian’s answered with a 3-yard touchdown run of its own from Justin Bourque with about five minutes to play, but Puglisi hit Ragan for a 19-yard touchdown pass just three minutes later for the dagger.

Between the six different touchdown scorers, five sacks from the front seven, two interceptions from the secondary and a 6-for-6 showing from kicker Henry Graf on PATs, this was as complete of a win as it gets.

“We played as a team today … when you play as a team, you’re tough to beat,” said head coach Jason Swepson. “We wanted our play-makers to make some plays and they did. … Everyone played well, everyone made some plays and we capitalized on turnovers.”

LAWRENCE ACADEMY 42, ST. SEBASTIAN’S 27

Lawrence Academy (3-1)      7   14   7    14   –   42

St. Sebastian’s (1-3)              7    6    0    14   –   27

LA – Jacob Ward 6 pass from Ryan Puglisi (Henry Graf kick)

SS – Andrew Hahm 12 run (Joe Sylvester kick)

LA – Luke Reynolds 3 run (Graf kick)

SS – Aidan Maguire 53 pass from Braedan Donovan (kick failed)

LA – Evan Thompson 11 run (Graf kick)

LA – Matt Ragan 77 pass from Puglisi (Graf kick)

SS – Zion Simmons 15 pass from Donovan (Sylvester kick)

LA – Fenix Figueroa 3 run (Graf kick)

SS – Justin Borque 3 run (Sylvester kick)

LA – Ragan 19 pass from Puglisi (Graf kick)