LAMI-GRANDE - CJ IV Final: Howell 46, WW-South 13
Howell QB Tim Lamirande led the Rebel yell with four TDs passing and one rushing in Howell's 46-13 win over West Windsor South in the CJ IV final.
Published: 11/30/2007
By - Scott Clayton - Senior Staff Writer
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PISCATAWAY - Go ahead and call him the Maestro. After a virtuoso performance in leading Howell to its first state sectional title in school history, there is no better metaphor for Tim Lamirande's importance in completing an 11-1 season with a 46-13 win over an overmatched West Windsor-Plainsboro South team Friday at Rutgers Stadium.
With a fine array of instruments at his disposal - speedy back David Hayes, receivers Chance Carrick, Brian Battaglia and Jason Amato, Nick Libonati and an underrated offensive line - Lamirande arranged the pieces to make beautiful music on the way to a 16-for-19, 246-yard, four passing and one rushing touchdown kind of night against the Pirates.
Case in point: West Windsor South, wearing its desperation on its sleeve, unsuccessfully tried an onside kick to start the second half. Howell already led 20-0, but a chance to rip the heart out of its opponent with nearly a full 24 minutes of game time remaining sounded like fun. So the play call comes in with one of the Rebels' favorites: a hook-and-lateral. It was the same play that lifted Howell past Manalapan on Sept. 15. If successful, it would be a back-breaker in this spot, only it was all wrong for the defense that West Windsor had lined up. Lamirande checks at the line to a corner route for Carrick. The result? A 47-yard touchdown after Carrick cut against the grain and avoided two defenders near the 15-yard line.
"We knew they were going to try something," Carrick said. "We were actually supposed to run a different play but Timmy checked it at the line because he saw Zero coverage. He just hit me right after I cleared the linebacker, and I saw one guy and I cut it back."
"I saw a safety cheating over to the left side so I figured I'd let Chance try to make a play," Lamirande said.
Now leading 26-0 with just 13 seconds elapsed into third quarter, it was start-the-buses time for the Pirates faithful. That did not mean that the offensive fireworks were over for Howell, however. The hook-and-lateral would come a little later in the third quarter, a gift to the survivors of the 1-9 and 2-8 seasons that were commonplace at the school just four years ago.
After a 33-yard David Twamley touchdown got West Windsor on the scoreboard, Howell needed just 2:05 to go 58 yards on five plays for an answer, one that would cover 34 yards total. Lamirande's pass to Battaglia was good for nine yards. After taking a pitch from his teammate, Carrick handled the final 25 yards.
"It was a great call,"Lamirande said. "We had tried it a couple of times before that and it was open, but I got hit on one play and Brian had to dive for the ball."
West Windsor South may have known from the get-go that it would need a special effort to topple the Rebels. As a result, quarterback Connor Farrell tried to go up top right away. Carrick, as a cornerback, has perfect position on the play and picked off the pass 30 yards downfield. Eight plays later, Howell was up 7-0 as Lamirande hooked up with Jason Amato in the left flat for a touchdown. Amato brought the ball in along the sideline for the final 10 yards, leaping over the pylon to punctuate the score.
"We got the momentum going," Lamirande said. "I think experience may have actually helped us a lot."
Howell's second drive was another study in efficiency. Lamirande took care of a big chunk with a 43-yard connection with sophomore Rob Handy that brought the ball down to the Pirates' 1-yard line.
After failing to reach pay dirt on the first two plays, Lamirande scored on a keeper up the middle. Howell would score once more in the first half. This time is was Carrick instead of Handy getting the bulk of the yards. Carrick went 29 yards down to the 2 before Lamirande found Amato in the back of the end zone for his second score. Amato's touchdown with 4:18 to play in the second quarter made it 20-0.
"When I break free in the pocket, we have such great athletes that can make moves up the field," Lamirande said. "It's my job just to hit them and they do the rest."
Barely a minute after the hook-and-lateral, Howell was on the board again as Amato stepped in front of a Farrell pass intended for Michigan-bound tight end/linebacker J.B. Fitzgerald and went 36 yards into the end zone with the interception.
After Hayes helped turn a broken play into a 20-yard touchdown run with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter, all that remained on the evening was totaling up the stats. Lamirande, who missing a game with a wrist injury, gained 2,325 yards through the air for the season. The first-year starter also passed for 25 touchdowns.
For the second straight year, Howell allowed a monster outing to the opposing team's running back in the state finals. Twamley gained 253 yards on 58 carries. However, unlike Mike Weisel's 298-yard, four-touchdown performance for Hunterdon Central in 2006, Twamley's success bore little impact on the outcome, with 165 of his yards coming in the second half with Howell looking to not give up passing plays. That plan succeeded, with Farrell finsihing the evening 1-for-12 with three interceptions. The only complete pass for West Windsor - a 33-yd. touchdown pass to Fitzgerald - deflected off a Howell defender.
Box Score
Central Jersey Group IV Final
Howell 46, West Windsor-Plainsboro South 13
Score By Quarter
West Windsor South (10-2) 0 0 6 7 - 13
Howell (11-1) 14 6 19 7 - 46
Scoring Plays
H - Amato 18-yd. pass from Lamirande (Carrick kick).
H - Lamirande 1-yd. run (Carrick kick).
H - Amato 1-yd. pass from Lamirande (kick failed).
H - Carrick 47-yd. pass from Lamirande (kick failed).
W - Twamley 33-yd. run (kick failed).
H - Carrick 25-yd. pass from Lamirande (kick failed).
H - Amato 36-yd. INT return (Carrick kick).
W - Fitzgerald 33-yd. pass from Farrell (Quinton kick).
H - Hayes 20-yd. run (Carrick kick).
Team Stats
WWP H
First Downs 17 17
Rushes-Yards 51-335 25-112
Passing 1-12-3 16-21-0
Passing Yards 33 246
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-49 5-40
Individual Stats
Rushing: (W) Twamley 38-253, Brown 4-40, Matthews 3-28, Farrell 2-11, Efstathios 1-3, Garzone 2-0. (H) Hayes 15-83, Lamirande 9-31.
Passing: (W) Farrell 1-12-3 33 yds. (H) Lamirande 16-19-0 246 yds., Battaglia 0-1-0 0 yds., Jones 0-1-0 0 yds.
Receiving: (W) Fitzgerald 1-33. (H) Amato 5-57, Battaglia 5-35, Hayes 3-10, Carrick 2-101, Handy 1-43.
Interceptions: (H) Amato 2-36, Carrick 1-0.
E-mail: clayton@digitalsports.com