Seldom-used Lawton finally seizes golden opportunity

Kevin Pomeroy, Sports Editor
Posted 12/9/14

Count Bishop Hendricken senior defensive back Power Kanga among the few who weren’t surprised to see Trevor Lawton’s breakout game in Saturday’s Super Bowl.

“In practice, …

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Seldom-used Lawton finally seizes golden opportunity

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Count Bishop Hendricken senior defensive back Power Kanga among the few who weren’t surprised to see Trevor Lawton’s breakout game in Saturday’s Super Bowl.

“In practice, he’s a good, good receiver,” Kanga said. “I play him and he catches everything.”

And so, as it turns out, the Hawks’ best-kept secret wasn’t much of a secret to his teammates.

Lawton was just waiting for a chance.

“We felt like he was going to be one of our secret weapons going into the game, because no one has really seen much from him all year,” said Hendricken head coach Keith Croft.

So who is Trevor Lawton?

For most of this season, he was anonymous, just another player vying for time on a team loaded with talent, where nothing is guaranteed.

The year wasn’t what Lawton, a junior, had envisioned, when he transferred over to Hendricken in the off-season after a great sophomore season at West Warwick, where he earned First-Team All Division II-B honors for the eventual D-II champion Wizards.

A key member of that title team, Lawton assumed he’d become a valuable member of the Hawks’ arsenal as well.

For most of the season, he wasn’t. But on Saturday – after leading his team with five catches for 75 yards and a terrific 35-yard touchdown catch that put the Hawks up 26-7 in the third quarter – Lawton finally earned his moment of glory. He was as important to Hendricken’s fifth consecutive Division I championship as anybody wearing the green and gold.

“At first, I was second-guessing myself,” Lawton said. “I was like the new kid on the block. Nobody really knew me. But I made my way in, and winning this makes it all worthwhile.”

Due to interscholastic league transfer rules, Lawton was forced to sit out the first half of the regular season. Once he was eligible to play, he still wasn’t completely up to speed in terms of learning his new team’s playbook and fitting into the scheme.

Whereas West Warwick aired the ball out frequently with the 6-foot-5, 200-pound Lawton at tight end, he was moving to receiver at Hendricken, and the team was more focused on moving the ball on the ground.

Plus, when the Hawks did throw, they had senior Lee Moses – one of the state’s best – as well as Kanga, Caleb Wurster and Andrew Hopgood. It didn’t seem like there was any balls left to go Lawton’s way.

“I didn’t know most of my plays,” Lawton said. “They weren’t really working me in because they have to worry about the kids that are going to play. I had to fight through it. I had to go to every practice – I wasn’t playing. I had to suck it up.”

He stepped on the field as a Hendricken Hawk for the first time against Cumberland on Oct. 17, and he hauled in a pair of passes late in a blowout victory.

Three games later, in the regular season finale against South Kingstown, Lawton was finally getting regular snaps. But he still wasn’t having much of an impact.

In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, though, things started to change. Lawton was being targeted more in practice, and his coaches let him know that come game time, they were planning on calling his number.  

“In practice, we were passing a lot,” Lawton said. “They told me after the practice last night, they said, ‘Be ready to shine. It’s your moment.’”

And shine he did. Up 12-7 in the third quarter, Hendricken began to feature Lawton while La Salle’s top defensive backs were off shadowing Moses and Kanga.

Playing against single coverage on every snap, Lawton caught two passes on the Hawks’ first drive of the second half, which culminated in a John Toppa touchdown.

On the next drive, Lawton caught an 11-yard pass for a first down on second-and-7, and then made the biggest play of his Hendricken career four plays later.

In a fourth-and-6 situation, Lawton got a free release on the right side and beat his man to the front of the end zone. Toppa lofted up the pass and Lawton used his frame to go up and get it, corralling it with his hands and keeping his feet inbounds for a game-altering touchdown.

Suddenly, Hendricken was up 26-7, and Trevor Lawton at the center of it all.

“Hearing my number, saying, ‘Lawton just get to the end zone. The ball is going to be there. Just get it,’” Lawton said. “There was no way I was dropping it.”

Lawton caught one more pass later in the game, but by that point the Hawks had already put it out of reach. After the final whistle, Lawton was as vocal as anybody, celebrating his second consecutive title.

Hendricken’s best kept secret was finally out.

“I knew he was going to have a good game, it was just a matter of opportunity,” Kanga said. “He had it, and he did what he could with it.”

Kevin Pomeroy is the sports editor at the Warwick Beacon. He can be reached at 732-3100 and kevinp@rhodybeat.com.

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