Three straight KOs for Red Raiders over Boxers


Sicard boots 26-yard field goal to lift FHS to win

By Dave Nordman
Sports Editor

Brockton -- Do you believe in miracles?

The Fitchburg football team does.

With one swift kick of his left leg, senior Zack Sicard
booted a 26-yard field goal Friday night, earning his spot
as the hero in one of the greatest football games in Red
Raiders' history.

With 5 seconds left in the game, Sicard's first field goal
of the season lifted Fitchburg to a 17-16 win over Brockton
before 1,000 stunned fans at Rocky Marciano Stadium.  The
win was Fitchburg's third in a row over the Boxers, and its
fifth straight on the season.  Brocton is now 1-3.

"This is the greatest moment of my life," said Sicard, who
saw his first attempt to win the game -- a 22-yard try late
in the third quarter -- drift wide left.  "I wasn't thinking
about that first kick.  I lined it up just like it was
practice and it went through.  What a feeling."

It wasn't enough Sicard booted his game-winning field goal
on the Boxers' home field; he also did it using Brockton's
kicking tee.  Prior to the game, with the Red Raiders' tee
left behind in Fitchburg, Brockton volunteered the use of
its tee.

The gesture proved fatal.  but not after four timeouts, a
penalty and two kicks -- and a lot of prayers.

Made it twice

With the ball positioned on the 4-yard line, Sicard made his
first kick, but had it called back after an illegal
procedure penalty was whistled on Fitchburg.  After another
Brockton timeout and the ball now on the 9, Sicard's second
attempt was a carbon copy of the first.  Floating through a
thick mist that blanketed the field for much of the game,
Sicard's kick sailed throught the uprights as his teammates
piled on top of him.

"The kid (Sicard) showed a lot of nerve out there," said
Brockton coach Armond Columbo, whose team visits Leominster
in three weeks.  "For him to put it through twice under those
conditions, you have to give him credit."

While Sicard's kick stunned the Brockton faithful, Fitchburg
coach Ray Cosenza actually predicted his team's fantastic
finish.  "After he missed his first field goal, I took him
aside and told him he was going to kick a field goal to win
the game," Cosenza said.  "During the time-out bfore the
kick, I was trying to think of a joke to lighten up the
moment, but I could think of none."

Big play to Snow

Sicard's heroic kick was made possible by a 47-yard slant
screen pass from quarterback Dave Masciarelli to Tom Snow.
With just 1:46 left, and the ball on the Fitchburg 38-yard
line, Masciarelli hit Snow over the middle at the 43.  The
5-foot-8 senior did the rest, sprinting to the Brockton 15.
From there, Dustin LeBlanc and Andy LeBlanc each carried the
ball once for five yards apiece before a one-yard gain by
Andy brought the ball to the 4, setting up Sicard's kick.

"We talked abut that play during halftime," said Fitchburg
offensive coordinator Paul DiGeronimo of Masciarelli's pass.
"They were sending in all their guys, so we just decided to
go for it."

The Red Raiders jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but saw the
Boxers battle their way back to take the lead midway through
the third quarter.  Leading 14-8 with the ball at their own
18-yard line, the Red Raiders committed a costly turnover
when the snap of center Scott Gendron one-hopped punter Zack
Sicard who fell on the ball at the 1.  From there, Brockton
quarterback Eric Boatwright needed just one play to tie the
game.  Rynard Wilson added the conversion run, a sweep
around the seft side, to give the Boxers a 16-14 lead.

Dustin LeBlanc gave the Red Raiders a 7-0 lead with 2:36
left in the first quarter.  Running in between right tackle
and right guard, LeBlanc busted into the end zone from 1
yard out.  Sicard booted the extra point.

LeBlanc's touch down was the culminaton of a 15-play,
58-yard drive that eroded much of the first quarter.

Faced with a first-and-goal from the Boxers' 10 yard line,
Fitchburg needed just three plays to score, Andy Leblanc
took the first down handoff and carried the ball down to the
2.  From there, Dustin LeBlanc slugged his way to the 1
before breaking the plain on the next play.

The Red Raiders took advantage of a Brockton mishap to
double their lead midway through the second quarter.  With
the ball on their own 48 yard line, the Boxers saw a fourth
down snap sail over the head of punter Archie Johnson who
pounced on the ball at the 32.  From there it took the Red
Raiders just 10 plays to find the end zone.

Similar to his first touhdown run, Dustin LeBlanc again
found daylight between his guard and tackle from a yard out.
Sicard's extra point gave the Red Raiders a 14-0 lead with
5:10 left in the first half.

With little success running the ball, the Boxers went to the
air just before intermission.  Sprinting down the left
sideline, Wilson slipped behind the Fitchburg secondary
where quarterback Boatwright found him for a 47-yard pickup.

The long pass appeared to stretch a Fitchburg defense that
had focused much of its attention on stopping Brockton's
two-back attack of James Jackson and Miguel Cummings.  Six
plays after Wilson's cach, Cummings cracked the end zone
from a yard out.  Playing without kicker Emamuel Gomes, who
was injured recently in a car accident, the Boxers were
forced to go for two, but were successful.  Rolling out to
the ring Boatwritht fund Jason Spry all alone in the right
corner of the end zone to make it 14-8 with 45 seconds left
in the half.



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