Lawrence’s memorable performance leads Northwestern past Central in region final
When Neiman Lawrence transferred to Miami Northwestern this past spring, he wasn’t even the Bulls starting quarterback.
But Lawrence went to work, acclimating to the culture of one of Miami-Dade County’s most tradition-rich programs and knew opportunities to make an impact would come.
On Saturday night at Traz Powell Stadium, Lawrence found himself at the heart of one of South Florida’s best rivalries as he commanded Northwestern’s offense against rival Miami Central in a regional final that might as well have been a state championship game.
Lawrence seized the moment and did something that great quarterbacks who have played in said rivalry, including Teddy Bridgewater, Jacory Harris and Tutu Atwell, never did.
Lawrence threw seven touchdown passes to lead the Bulls to a convincing 50-29 victory over the Rockets and move closer to back-to-back state championships.
“It feels great with the work me and my guys put in,” said Lawrence, who transferred from Miami Ransom Everglades before the season, and has multiple Power Four conference offers. “We’re all gas and no brakes on this playoff run and we’ve got two wins left to get.”
Northwestern (12-0), the top overall seed in Class 3A, will continue its chase for its 10th state title all-time on Friday when it hosts Orlando Bishop Moore (12-1) at 7:30 at Traz Powell Stadium. The winner of that will face either Sarasota Booker or Jacksonville Raines the following week in the state final at Pitbull Stadium in Miami.
But after their latest convincing performance, this time against the No. 2-seeded Rockets (10-2), whose only losses this season came against Northwestern, it’s hard to see anything stopping the Bulls.
Lawrence, who started the season splitting reps with returning starting quarterback Leon Strawder, became full-time QB1 once Strawder transferred to American Heritage.
Through his first nine starts entering Saturday’s game, Lawrence had thrown 25 touchdown passes and only one interception.
“Kudos to Neiman. I told him at Northwestern, we do have a standard,” Northwestern coach Jaquatin Victrum said. “He adapted to our culture and adapted to the hard work we put in every day and he continues to lead. I’m not surprised at all. He’s a great kid and it was just good to see him have that kind of success.”
Victrum, the Bulls’ former junior-varsity coach, also went through a bit of an adjustment period just before the season after he was promoted to head coach in the wake of former coach Teddy Bridgewater’s suspension and subsequent departure.
Bridgewater, who was suspended for providing benefits to players deemed impermissible by state rules, has since returned to the NFL, and plays for the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Victrum has since kept the Bulls on course, and are still one of the top teams in the nation, ranked No. 26 nationally by MaxPreps entering the week.
“It’s a chance to write my story and God put me in this position,” Victrum said. “I’m just following the righteous path with these kids. The goal is to get these next two wins. This was just a bump on the road on the way to our ultimate goal.”
Lawrence completed 21 of 28 passes for 406 yards and was locked in nearly the entire evening with his talented receiving corps.
Senior and Syracuse commit Calvin Russell Jr. caught three of Lawrence’s scoring tosses and finished with seven catches for 128 yards.
Four-star junior Nicholas Lennear caught six passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior and FAU commit Nicsaint Joseph Jr. caught five passes for 75 yards and a touchdown.
“I thought the work when I came over in the spring was really important for us,” Lawrence said. “We just had to make sure the team’s temperature was cool and that we made the plays we needed to make in order to execute.”
Northwestern jumped out to a 22-0 lead after the first quarter and looked for a moment as if it was ready to put together a rare mercy-rule win over Central.
The Rockets battled back after their defense put up their first points. Otis Guyton sacked Lawrence and stripped him of the ball near the goal line. Sophomore Damien Harvey landed on the ball in the end zone to cut the deficit to 22-7. The Bulls answered when Lawrence found Joseph Jr. for a 14-yard score.
But Central wasn’t done.
Senior running back and FIU commit Jayden Ford showed off his elite speed with a 74-yard touchdown run down the sideline. Central quarterback Anthony McQueen then connected with Duane Manor in the end zone just before halftime to pull the Rockets within a score at 29-22.
But Lawrence and the Bulls again had the answer as Lawrence looped a perfect pass to senior Marcus Dumont, who raced 43 yards to the end zone.
“We kept telling the kids that adversity will strike,” Victrum said. “That team is good and will make some plays. But how we respond to adversity will tell the most about us.”
After McQueen scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, Lawrence hit Lennear on another sideline route and he broke it 53 yards for a touchdown with 7:28 left. Central was stopped on downs on its ensuing possession, and Russell put the finishing touches on the victory when he caught a slant pass and sped 39 yards for the final points of the game with 4:02 left.
“Coach asked us all week for 50 or even 56 points. We told him we’d get 60, but we’ll settle for 50,” Russell Jr. said. “We’ve been talking about it all week in practice how we wanted to come in and dominate these people. We knew they couldn’t sit with us and the way we’re going there’s no messing with us.”
