Fitchburg completes main goal
FITCHBURG 21, LEOMINSTER 7
 
 
 By John McGuirk, Globe Correspondent, 11/27/98
 

 FITCHBURG - Despite having 10 wins without a loss,
the Fitchburg Red Raiders were not satisfied. Satisfaction
would only come in the form of a victory over archrival
Leominster.

Yesterday, before 6,500 at rainy Crocker Field, the Red
Raiders met their goal as they upended the Blue Devils,
21-7, in the 115th rendition of this historic
rivalry. Fitchburg (the Mid-Wach A Division champions)
improved
 to 11-0, the first time since 1933 that the Red Raiders
have gone unbeaten in the regular season. Leominster fell to
8-2. Both teams have already qualified for postseason play
Dec. 5.

Fitchburg will face Springfield Cathedral in the
Central/Western Mass.  Division 1 Super Bowl at
WPI. Leominster meets Holyoke in the Division 1A title game
at Springfield College.

''We came ready to play today,'' said Ray Cosenza, the Red
Raiders coach.  ''We had a chance to put this game away at
halftime, but give Leominster credit, they didn't hang their
heads and got back into the game. This is the most important
game for us ... even more important than the Super Bowl.''

The Red Raiders' victory also ties the rivalry at
53-53-9. Fitchburg raced to a 21-0 halftime lead and relied
on its defense to keep the Blue Devils at bay the rest of
the way. Offensively, the Red Raiders dominated as they
compiled 398 yards (251 in the first half) to Leominster's
163. The double-barrel backfield of Dustin and Andy LeBlanc
(no relation) proved too strong as they rushed for a
combined 319 yards. Dustin LeBlanc ran for 167 yards on 24
carries, and Andy LeBlanc finished with 152 yards on 29
carries.

Fitchburg jumped ahead, 7-0, on quarterback Jason Twomley's
1-yard plunge to cap a 10-play, 59-yard drive. After
Leominster punted on its ensuing possession, the Red Raiders
responded. From its 20, Fitchburg marched to the 50. On
second down, Twomley connected with Dustin LeBlanc for a
50-yard screen pass to make it 14-0 with 11:44 before the
half.

While Leominster's offense continued to sputter, the Red
Raiders' offense remained in synch. From its 16, Fitchburg
pounded the ball through the Blue Devil defense. The
84-yard, 14-play drive was finally capped by a Dustin
LeBlanc 3-yard scoring run with less than three minutes
before the half that made it a 21-point game.

Leominster finally started to find some holes in the
Fitchburg defense in the second half. On its first
possession, the Blue Devils, behind the solid running of Tim
Nowokunski (158 yards on 20 carries, 135 in the second
half), finally got on the board thanks to a Nowokunski
15-yard keeper. The Blue Devils had a chance to cut further
into the deficit, but fell 1 yard short on a fourth-and-2
from the Red Raider 7-yard line with three minutes left.

''I'm proud of our kids for putting in a great effort in
that second half,'' said Leominster coach John
Dubzinski. ''We asked them to do that and I thought they
responded.''

This story ran on page C22 of the Boston Globe on 11/27/98. 
Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company. 






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