Raiders win in a rout
By Rick Eggleston
Staff Writer

HOLDEN -- No tricks, just plenty of treats.

Fitchburg fullback Dustin LeBlanc raced his way 85 yards on
9 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead the Red
Raiders to a late, but convincing, 28-0 win over Mid-WAch A
foe Wachusett Friday night at Mountaineer Field.

But up until 7:15 left in the second quarter, the
Fitchburgers found themselves in the grasp of a regular
pre-Halloween horror show being put on by the Mountaineers
-- at least by the Red Raiders' standards.

It was at that point of the game that Fitchburg fullback
Andy LeBlanc finally broke into the end zone to put the
Raiders on the scoreboard for the first time in the ball
game.  Yes, the score was 0 - 0 at the end of the first
quarter, as the Raiders -- held scoreless after one for the
first time this season -- limped into the second stanza
having converted for just two first downs, and were forced
to punt on their first possession.

The end result of a quick 5-play, 66 yard strike by the
Raiders, Le Blanc keyed the drive with an 18 yard jaunt off
a sweep and pitch-out from quarterback Dave Masciarelli.
Meanwhile, LeBlanc's running mate, Dustin LeBlanc, rumbled
out another 10 for a first down when Andy LeBlanc (195 yards
rushing on 13 carries) took a hand off on second down 45
yards for paydirt.  Zack Sicard booted the extra point.

Following the touchdown, the Raiders went to work exorcising
what ever was left of the evil first quarter curse that had
had been gripping both their offense and defense.

"I wasn't happy with the way we played defense early,"
Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza said.  "We had some people
banged up, so I'm pleased to get the win.  Our kids hung in
there."

Defense sprung into action first, and despite an impressive
drive by the Mountaineers which landed them on Fitchburg's
20 yard line, saw Red Raider wideout Frank McDonald
intercept a pass by Wachusett quarterback Andrew Dickhaut
and run the ball back 39 yards before getting tripped up at
Wachusett's 46 yard line.

"My teammates just did their jobs and I saw it was open,
and I just took it.  It happened so quick.  I just backed up
and the ball was right there," Mcdonald, just a sophomore,
said.  Masciarelli ran off 10 plays with under four minutes
left in the half, including handing the ball off to the
LeBlancs for substantial first down gains.  Working the ball
all the way to Wachusett's 12, the Raiders recovered from a
6 yard loss on a fumble then Andy LeBlanc's 16 yard take
made it first-and-goal Raider from the 2.

Dustin LeBlanc capped off the drive with his 2-yard run up
the gut to make it 13-0, Fitchburg.

Special teams came up big for the Raiders next, and
recovered the ensuing kick-off when the Wachusett player
back to receive muffed the kick.  Fitchburg's Harold Mateo
recovered the loose ball for first and 10 from Wachusett's
30.

Four plays later, Dustin LeBlanc took a short pass-run
option from Masciarelli 13 yards for his third touchdown of
the quarter.  Sicard drilled his third PAT through the
uprights as the Raiders headed into the locker room nursing
a solid 21-0 advantage.

"When we got the ball back and scored before the half, that
made a huge difference," Cosenza said.  "Wachusett was just
able to execute very well."

Great defense fueled the Raiders at the start of the second
half.  Again forced to punt away its first possession of the
third quarter, the Raiders allowed the Mountaineers to make
their way to Fitchburg's own 5.  But again, the Mountaineers
were faced with a fourth-and-inches situation that the
Raiders would only quash.

And McDonald came up with the punishing stop, knocking
Wachusett running back Ryan Mattison (110 yards on 15
carries) back for a 2 yard loss.  It was the second time in
the game that McDonald had stopped the Mountaineers cold in
his red zone.

The play seemed to all but deflate Wachusett's confidence
and chances at ever scoring. The Mountaineers proved
unsuccessful at getting much of anything ignited for the
remnainder of the game.

"I was actually on a block for that play," McDonald said.
"I knew I just had to do my job.  I didn't want to let
averybody down."

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