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.
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