Big boys ahead for Blue Devils
Leominster blasts Shrewsbury
By Dave Nordman
Sports Editor
SHREWSBURY -- Bring on the big boys.
Tim Nowokunski ran for three touchdown and GregDonatelli
caught two others as Leominster rolled to a 40 - 0 win over
MidWachA rival Shrewsbury FRiday night at Bergstrom Field.
Nowokunski's second straight three-touchdown game helped
ease the pain of last year's close loss to the Colonials at
Doyle Field. But the star of the game was junior Jason
Morales, who returned two first half punts for 67 and 45
yards.
"We're excited about winning this game, because they beat us
last year," said Leominster coach John Dubzinski. "Jason
set the tone for us tonight. He played a fabulous game and
gave us great field position with his returns."
Big boys on deck
Next up for Leominster is St. John's followed by Brockton,
Milford, North Middlesex, and, of course, Fitchburg.
"Right now, we're concentrating on St. John's." Dubzinski
said. "They're an excellent football team and it's going to
take our best effort to beat them."
Leominster dented the scort-board on its first possession of
the game and never looked back. Nowokunski split the gap
between his right guard and tackle from five yards out to
give the Blue Devils a 6-0 lead with 6:33 left in the first
quarter. Joey Henrie's point-after attempt sailed wide
left.
Nowokunski's score was set up by a 67-yard punt return by
Morales.
Key punt return
Morales settled under a low line drive kick by Mike Mastro
at the Blue Devils' 20-yard line, outmaneuvered a pair of
Colonials at midfield, and sprinted down the right sideline
before being tackled from behind by Nick Rotolo.
The Blue Devils added to their lead with 26 seconds left in
the opening quaarter. Taking over at its own 41, Leominster
needed just four plays to reach the end zone when Nowokunski
sprinted up the middle of the field from 23 yards out.
Henrie's kick made it 13-0.
Nowokunski scored his third touchdown of the game with four
minutes left in the second quarter. Taking a handoff from
Quinn at the 6, Nowokunski walked through the center of the
line into the end zone. Henrie booted the extra point to
make it 20-0. The TD run was set up by a 45 yard punt
return by Morales.
The Blue DEvils took a 33-0 at the half when Quinn connected
with Greg Donatelli on a pair of long scoring strikes. The
first, a 36-yarder, came at the 3:11 mark. Split out to the
right, Donatelli ran a quick 10-yard slant to the middle of
the field where Quinn hit him in stride. The speedy senior
did the rest, pulling away from a pair of Colonial defenders
as he reached the end zone.
Donatelli's second TD catch, a 45-yarder, came with just
17 seconds left before the break. Sprinting down the left
sideline, Donatelli settled under Quinn's pass at the 25.
From there, he won a foot race with Pat Scheffer into the
left corner of the end zone.
Dubinski emptied his bench to start the second half, Junior
Paul LeBlanc took over for Quinn at quarterback before
giving way to James Malone and Henrie, while Nowokunski
handed the tail back duties off to Morales, Chris Powers,
Greg Piermarini and Peter Perla.
Perla gave the Blue Devils' a 40-0 lead with 4:12 left
in the third quarter.
Fitchburg High School Athletics and Competition Home Page