Fitchburg rolls to sixth straight win

Rick Eggleston Staff Writer 
 
MARLBORO --  It wasn't Brockton, but Fitchburg still
had to show up and play a football game against Marlboro
Friday night at Kelliher Field.  And when you're the Red
Raiders -- stacked, jacked, and undefeated -- you can bet
the opposing team will have you dead in its sights.

But it was the Panthers who wound up being road kill, as 
the Raiders marched to a convincing 35-0 victory before
a modest crowd of 350 fans.

The win was the sixth straight for the Red Raiders, their
third over a Mid-Wach A oponent and second shutout.

Team prepareswill

"This gourp is the best group in terms of their preparation.
They don't take anything for granted,"Fitchburg coach Ray
Cosenza said.  "Every week they come out hard in practice --
you wouldn't know if they're playing Brockton or Marlboro --
every week its the same.  Everybody said you have to watch
out for a let down, but I knew that wasn't going to be the
case with this group."  

Paced by senior tail back Andy LeBlanc, who rushed for 148
of his 150 total yards on 10 carries in the first half, the
Red Raiders wasted no time pouncing on the Panthers.
LeBlanc ran 64 yards for a touchdown on the Raiders' first
possession of the game.  It was the first of three first
half TDs for LeBlanc.

Showed signs of life

Marlboro's defense started to show signs of life on the Red
Raiders' next drive, who despite pushing the ball to
Marlboro's 14, were stuffed on fourth down by Panther tackle
Brent Braswell with his hit in the backfield on Dustin
LeBlanc.  LeBlanc wrapped up the first stanza runnng for
27 yards on five carries.

"We scored some points, but we worked.  (Marlboro) really
shut down some things on us.  I give them a lot of credit,"
Cosenza said.  "But I thought our defense did a fantastic
job as they have all year.  We gave Andy LeBlanc the ball,
and he was just able to respond."

That's just what the Red Raiders would do, and turned it up
a notch in the second quarter.  This time it was Andy
LeBlanc going 52 yards on second down for paydirt, taking
advantage of some great blocks downfield, while breaking a
tackle of his own at the 20.  Zack Sicard booted the extra
point for a 14-0 lead.

The Panthers, however, recovered on their ensuing drive, and
looked as though they would get something going against the
Red Raiders.  Yet, the third of four costly first half
penalties by the Panthers called back a stunning run by
Braswell deep into Fitchburg territory.

A first down later, the Panthers fumbled, as senior tight
end Andy Roy recoverd the football for Fitchburg after Andy
LeBlanc initially batted the ball away from Marlboro
quarterback Justin Clement, giving the Red Raiders a
first-and-ten from Marboro's 29.  That set up a 26 yard pass
reception by wide receiver Tom Snow from quarterback Dave
Masciarelli (3-for-4, 57 yards passing in the first half),
as Andy leBlanc went in 3 yards for his third TD of the
half.

"I thought Andy picked his game uup.  The last game against
Marlboro he had a similar type of game so I had sent the
film home with him.  I thought he needed ot see that, and
how well he did against them last year," Cosenza said.  "He
watched it, and I think picked some things up.  He wasn't
being too flashy tonight, he just ran hard."

Meanwhile, Masciarelli put the Raiders up 28-0 at the break
with his 1-yard keeper scored with 27 sseconds remaining in
the half.

Sophomore fullback Frank McDonald made his presence known
for the Red Raiders in the second half.  Taking some
pressure off of the LeBlancs, McDonald carried the ball
five times for 28 yards, including a touchdown jaunt of 14
yards with 9:36 left to play in the fourth quarter.

Masciarelli threw passes of 10 and 11 yards to finish the
night throwing for 78 yards.  Dustin LeBlanc, meanwhile,
ran three more times for 13 yards.

As well, Cosenza looked to his bench to close out the game,
as Jason Twomley replaced Masciarelli at QB.  Scott Gendron
took over at center, and Jason Quinn, James Alexander, Ben
Brideau, Anthony Fenelli, Josh Cordio and Jon Shea logged
valuale playing time.

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