Blue Devils thirsty to end decade-long drought 

Thursday, October 29, 1998

By Steve Kendall
Staff Writer
 

LEOMINSTER -- It's funny how much of a difference a
couple of months can make in the way people look at
something.

Prior to the start of the high school football season, most
fans in Leominster looked at Week 7 on the Blue Devils'
schedule, saw Brockton and counted it as a loss.

But that was seven weeks ago. Now, people are looking at the
Leominster-Brockton game as one the Blue Devils should win,
something they haven't done since 1988. That year,
Leominster stunned the Boxers, ranked No. 1 in the nation by
USA Today, at Doyle Field.

The newly found attention, and the accompanying pressure put
on by supporters is not affecting the Blue Devils as they
prepare for Friday's 7 p.m. showdown with the Boxers at
Doyle Field.

"People are excited about the team now, and that's great,"
said Leominster coach John Dubzinski. "But we're staying
focused on improving and learning every time out. We can't
afford to get caught up in the excitement. We need to stay
focused to play against Brockton."

That philosophy has worked wonders for the Blue Devils thus
far, as Leominster is a surprising 6-0 on the season. Though
several of those wins came against teams the Blue Devils are
expected to beat year-in and year-out, two of the wins have
to be considered upsets -- the opening week win over
Springfield Central and Saturday's victory over St. John's
of Shrewsbury.

Dubzinski said that even though it occurred in the opening
week of the season, the win over Central was the biggest key
in Leominster's strong start. The Blue Devils were dominated
in the opening half against Central, particularly on
offense. But Leominster came on strong in the second half,
putting together two solid drives and playing solid
defensively in a 14-6 win over the Golden Eagles.

"That win just gave these kids the confidence that they
could compete against the best teams," said Dubzinski. "They
knew they were inexperienced coming in, and they weren't
sure what would happen with this season. And after the first
half against Springfield, they could have been terribly
disappointed and intimidated. But they weren't. They came
out and played a great second half to get the win. It was a
real confidence boost for our kids."

Over the next three games, the Devils were on a roller
coaster ride. Though they would go on to win each of the
three games, they did not play particularly well for the
entire 44 minutes of any of the games. It was a good half
there, a great quarter there, but never a complete game
effort.

"I think that may have been for the best for these kids,"
said Dubzinski. "They made mistakes in all of those games,
and they learned from them. The mistakes were necessary
evils. If we had breezed through all those games, the kids
may have gotten overconfident and not worked as hard as they
have. The fact that they made those mistakes kept these kids
working hard to improve."

That hard work paid off big-time the past two weeks, as the
Blue Devils bowled over Shrewsbury before absolutely
dominating a very good St. John's team last week.

The defense has been awesome, allowing an average of 3.8
points per game. The Devils' defense has also held four of
its six opponents under 100 total yards -- including
St. John's, which managed just 48 yards and three first
downs on its home field.

But Leominster has yet to face an offense as potent as
Brockton's. The Boxers have added two weapons since its
17-16 loss to Fitchburg three weeks ago. Star tailback
Lindsey Ferebee returned from a broken jaw last week, and
quarterback Matt Pileski looks to have regained the form he
showed while picking the Blue Devils apart during last
year's 35-0 thrashing of Leominster.

And if the return of two of Brockton's better players
weren't enough for Leominster to handle, Friday's game also
could mean the difference between going to the Eastern
Mass. Division 1 Super Bowl or watching from the stands for
the Boxers. Though Brockton needs just a win over New
Bedford to claim the Big Three Conference title, the 2-3
Boxers still need to finish above the .500 mark.

Because they only play five games, that means they can lose
just once over their final four games, which are against
Leominster, New Bedford, Pinkerton Academy and
Waltham. Pinkerton has defeated Brockton in each of the past
two years, which puts added emphasis on the Leominster game
for the Boxers.

"There's no question we have our work cut out for us against
this team," said Dubzinski. "They need a win to keep their
Super Bowl hopes going, and you can be sure they will be
ready when they get here. But our kids will be ready
to. They have been working hard and we want a victory. Just
playing well against Brockton isn't good enough for us."



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