Fitchburg's blitz buries Westboro
Twomley, Snow team for 3 Red Raider TDs 
Saturday, November 14, 1998

By John McGuirk
CORRESPONDENT 

Fitchburg 41 Westboro 20

FITCHBURG --Fitchburg High sure didn't come out
flat after sewing up a SuperBowl berth last week.
         The Red Raiders broke open a tight game by scoring 21
fourth-quarter points en route to a 41-20 victory over the
Westboro High Rangers last night at Crocker Field.
         "This was a great effort tonight," Fitchburg coach
Ray Cosenza said. "We had a lot of people contribute to this
win. Our kids knew (Westboro) was a very good football team.
         "I don't think because this game was before
Thanksgiving, and after the North Middlesex game, it had any
bearing. Our kids wanted to play this game and they wanted
to make sure they put forth a good showing."
         The win kept Fitchburg unbeaten at 10-0, while the
Rangers fell to 7-2. While the Red Raiders have clinched a
Division 1 postseason berth, Westboro can lock up a Division
2 Super Bowl spot if it defeats Algonquin on Thanksgiving
morning.
         The game was scoreless in the first quarter before
things heated up in the second. The teams swapped touchdowns
before the Red Raiders struck for a pair of scores in the
final 1:44 to take a 20-7 lead into the break.
         A Mike Weiss-to-Chris Alves TD pass of 21 yards
with 3:50 left in the third quarter cut the lead to
20-14. Westboro then tried a pair of onside kicks, both of
which were unsuccessful. The first resulted in a Rangers
penalty; the other was recovered by the Red Raiders.
         That proved to be costly as Fitchburg, starting
from the Westboro 41, marched to the 5 before Dustin LeBlanc
scored the second of his two touchdowns, giving Fitchburg a
26-14 lead with 10:55 remaining.
         Fitchburg followed that TD with a pooch kick, which
it recovered. The Red Raiders needed just one play as Andy
LeBlanc (18 carries, 118 yards) busted through the line for
a 39-yard TD scamper. Quarterback Jason Twomley rolled in on
the conversion run to push the Red Raiders' lead to 34-14
with 10:31 showing.
         "Fitchburg was the better team tonight," Westboro
coach Jan Gebo said. "We didn't have the guns to match them
and we made too many mental mistakes.  Unfortunately, some
of our people who were successful for us all year had games
that were not in line with how we expected them to play. We
just did not execute well tonight."
         Scott McGavin, the Rangers' leading rusher, was
held to 63 yards on seven carries.
         Westboro managed to cut the deficit to 34-20 on a
Weiss-to-Dave Hanaka TD pass of 5 yards. But Fitchburg,
thanks to Dallas Heckel's third interception of the night,
added to its lead on a 41-yard scoring pass from Twomley to
Tom Snow.  That combination hooked up for three TDs on the
night for a total of 95 yards.  Twomley, a sophomore, was 4
for 8 for 170 yards with three touchdowns and one
interception.

For the game, Fitchburg rolled up 353 yards to Westboro's 253.
         The Red Raiders got on the board first as they
capped off a nine-play, 79-yard drive with a Dustin LeBlanc
2-yard keeper. Zack Sicard's PAT made it 7-0 with 8:51 left
in the second quarter.
         Westboro stormed back on its ensuing possession,
driving 83 yards before Weiss (10 for 22, 122 yards, 2 TDs,
4 interceptions) hit Hanaka for an 11-yard TD.  John
Seaman's PAT deadlocked the score at 7-7.
         Fitchburg answered twice in the closing minutes of
the half. A 33-yard pass to Dustin LeBlanc help set up a
31-yard scoring reception by Snow. Then, following a Frank
McDonald interception of a Weiss pass, Fitchburg converted
again as Twomley connected with Snow on a 23-yard touchdown
play. !

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