Lawrenceville honors Keuffel with Single Wing

Lawrenceville honors
Keuffel with
Single Wing
Sunday, November 11, 2007
BY ANDREW BORDERS
Special to the Times





LAWRENCE -- Ken Keuffel's memory was served well.

His beloved Lawrenceville School football team may have fallen yesterday to rival Hill School, 14-7, but the Big Red looked to Keuffel for a little help in trying for victory.

Keuffel, who spent 41 years at Lawrenceville in various capacities, including 31 years as its head football coach, passed away on Feb. 19, 2006. His claim to fame outside the Lawrenceville gates was as a proponent of the single-wing offense, writing books on the scheme that is still in some use around the country today.

It was on display yesterday at Lawrenceville when the Big Red honored their lifelong friend with a halftime ceremony and use of a handful of single-wing plays, including two of the team's biggest gainers.

Keuffel retired from the school in 2001, but his passing 21 months ago spurred an alumnus' donation that allowed the school to renovate the football facility. Work was done on the field to grade and crown it, adding irrigation and re-sodding it for the Big Red's use. The fans benefitted from new visiting bleachers and an aesthetic upgrade with brick facade on the home side. A new scoreboard, with Keuffel's name on top, was installed and a plaque commemorating Keuffel's contributions now sits at the field's opposite end.

Only yesterday, however, was a formal ceremony held to rededicate the field.

"We wanted to wait until all the work was done," Lawrenceville athletic director John Simar said. "This rivalry with Hill meant everything to him."

The rivalry, more than 100 years old, was special to the players, too. After Hill clinched it by intercepting a pass with less than four minutes to play and all but finished the clock with a 10-play drive, the Rams celebrated before the teams stood for the awarding of a perpetual cup trophy.

The cup rode with the Rams back to Pottstown, Pa., but the feeling was there that Keuffel's spirit will always be around Lawrenceville's campus.

The Big Red started with two single-wing plays and had five plays drawn up using the formation.

"(Keuffel's day) was certainly the catalyst, but it wasn't just a token," Big Red coach Ken Mills said. "We said if we're going to do it, we're going to make it part of our attack."

Hill took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter when Kory Kapinos, who ran 38 times for 195 yards, punched in a 1-yard run to cash in on a bad snap on a Lawrenceville punt.

A James Chiusano punt return to the Hill 16-yard line help set up two rushes by Robert Castelo, the second of which was a 3-yard touchdown run with three minutes left in the third quarter. But despite gainers like a 54-yard catch by Mike Edwards and an 18-yard rush by Brandon Rolnick on a Statue of Liberty handoff, both single-wing plays, Castelo's score was it for the Big Red.

Little more than a minute after Lawrenceville tied it, Hill quarterback Patrick Flanagan threw a 40-yard touchdown catch to Michael Howell for the go-ahead score, and Hill held on.

Hill7070 -- 14

Lawrenceville0070 -- 7

First Quarter

H--Kapinos 1 run (Wolter kick), 0:45.

Third Quarter

L--Castelo 3 run (Edwards kick), 3:01.

H--Howell 40 pass from Flanagan (Wolter kick), 1:45.

HillLawrenceville

First downs1012

Rushes-yards53-22624-22

Passing93241

Comp-Att-Int3-12-114-29-2

Punts6-31.55-22.8

Fumbles-Lost1-21-1

Penalties-Yards18-1139-71

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Hill: Kapinos 38-195, Kelly 2-(-3), Flanagan 5-12, Brown 2-0, White 4-7, Davidheiser 2-15. Lawrenceville: Van Valkenburg 4-(-6), H.Moscowitz 5-(-4), Haywood 4-(-15), Castelo 8-39, Restaino 1-0, Rolnick 1-18.

PASSING--Hill: Flanagan 3-12-1-93. Lawrenceville: Haywood 13-27-0-215, Chiusano 1-2-0-26.

RECEIVING--Hill: Kelly 1-47, Brown 1-6, Howell 1-40. Lawrenceville: Castelo 3-51, Edwards 8-140, H.Moscowitz 1-16, Chiusano 3-34.



The Times of Trenton (New Jersey)





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