Latest of greatest will linger

As I see It

By Dave Nordman
Simply put, it was the greatest high school football game I've
ever seen.

Fitchburg 17, Brockton 16.
The final score does little to shed light on what transpired
under the even brighter lights of Rocky Marciano Stadiom in
Brockton on Friday night.

They weren't Goliath Boxers of a decade earlier, who were
slayed by a David Leominster team, but the game had
everything else: two storied programs embattled in a classic
Eastern Mass. versus Central Mass struggle, bad weather, an
early Red Raiders' lead, a gallant Brockton comeback, key
turnovers, crucial special teams play, great coaching and,
finally, an unlikely hero.

Remember when?

Its a phrase often used to recount the glory days of a
bygone era, and will be recited by generations to come to
put into words what was tuly a game for the ages.

People will still be talking
When coach Ray Cosenza is long retired from coaching and
offensive coordinator Paul DiGeronimo has diagramed his
final play, strangers will still approach them on the street
and ask them about the game back in 1998 when a kid named
Zack Sicarad kicked a 26-yard field goal to beat Brockton
with 5 seconds left.

But it ws so much more, they will say.

While it was Sicard's field goal that ultimately won the
game, there were countless other memorable moments -- so
many, in fact -- that made this game great.

For starters, how about Cosenza telling Sicard he would kick
the game-winning field goal after he missed a 22-yarder late
in the third quarter, or that Sicard used the Boxers' own
kicking tee to boot the deciding points after his was left
behind in Fitchburg?

But the memory that will linger with those on the muddied
field at game's end will be the one of Fitchburg senior
quarterback Dave Mascierelli congratulating his teammates
and coaches alike, tears of joy flowing from his eyes.

The game meant that much, only because it seemed just
moments earlier so far out of reach.  With 97 seconds
remaining in the Red Raiders' undefeated season, Brockton
had the ball well into Fitchburg territory when I began my
decent from the press box located some 50 rows above the
field.

Losses the toughest interview
It's never easy to interview a losing team -- especially one
that was 4-0 prior to the game - but I had prepard my
questions, nonetheless.  Where did it all go wrong?  What
happened to the offense in the second half?  Was the defense
to blame? How do you bounce back next week?  And the
referees, how about that roughing-the-punter call?

When I reached the bottom of the stands, Fitchburg had
already forced the Boxers to punt - a short one at that - and
by the time I made my way onto the Brockton sideline, the
red Raiders had regained possession of the ball.

Then it happened
Standing amid a sea of Brockton football players and coaches,
Tom Snow was running toward me with his head down, ball in
hand and nothing but open turf ahead of him.  Moments
earlier, Mascierelli had thron Snow a perfect spiral over the
middle on a play DiGeronimo would later describe as a "super
screen" -- a last-gasp call from deep in his playbook.

The play was super, and so was the finish that would follow.
After missing wide left just 10 minutes before, Sicard's
boot from 21 yaards out was good, but a penalty painfully
nullified the points, Again, Sicard lined up the kick, this
time from 26 yards.  With the pressure of an unbeaten season
riding heavy on his 5-foot-8 frame, a steady mist falling,
the wind blowing in his face and one thousand people rooting
against him, the converted soccer player calmly lifted the
ball through the uprights and himself into Red Raider
football folklore.

Remember when, back in '98, a kid named Sicard kicked a
46-yarder to beat Brockton?

Years may add distance onto the kick, as time often does to
tales of glory, but when the greatest high school football
games are the topic of conversation in the Montachusett
Region, Fitchburg 17, Brockton 16 will forever be near the
top of the list.

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