Blue Devils KO'd by mighty Boxers
By Steve Kendall
Staff Writer

LEOMINSTER -- Brockton is sure glad to have Matt
Pileski back.

The senior quarterback threw for three touchdowns and ran
for another to lead the Boxers to a 28-6 win over Leominster
in front of 2,500 fans at Doyle Field on Friday night.

Pileski, who killed the Blue Devils last year, completed 10
of 16 passes for 153 yards -- includeing 6 for 7 for 73
yards in the second half.

"Matt is a great athlete, as he showed (Friday)," said
Brockton coach Armand Colombo.  "It's great to have him back
in our lineup, we definietely missed him the games he
missed.  He makes a big difference in our offense."

Brockton (3-3) was also bolstered by the return of tailback
Lindsey Ferebee.  Though the senior rushed for only 66
yards, his mere presence opened things up for his backfield
partner, Miguel Cummings, Brockton's bruising 235 pound
fullback rushed for 77 yards on jsut 10 carries.

Concentrated on running game
"I thought we did a good job of containing their running
game, but they really did us in with the passing game," said
Leominster coach John Dubzinski.  "Pileski was right on all
night -- he was making some perfect throws."

The 6-1 Blue Devils, meanwhile, were unable to get on track
offensively all night.  Quarterback Jon Quinn completed just
2 of 15 passes and was picked off three times.  Tim
Nowokunski, who had rushed for three touchdowns in each of
the past three games, was kept off the board -- though he
did rush for 98 yards.

The main reason for Leominster's trouble on offense was that
they fell behind early.  After Pileski hit Rynard Wilson on
a 54 yard scoring pass on Brockton's second possession,
Leominster was on its heels.

Leominster penalties hurt
Leominster also hurt itself with penalties.  A holding call
midway through the second quarter forced Leominster to punt
from its own 18.  Though Greg Piermarini got off a pretty
good boot, Brockton's Robert Whitaker returned it 18 yards
to give the Boxers great field position at the LHS 34.

Back to back gains of 11 and 10 yards by Cummings and
Ferebee moved the ball to the Leominster 24.  Cummings then
bowled over several defenders to get the ball to the 4,
from where Pileski scored on a quarterback sneak straight
up the middle.  Ferebee ran in the two point conversion for
a 14-0 halftime advantage.

"It's very difficult to play from behind against this team
because they are just so talented," said Dubzinski.  "We
kind of were forced into passing the ball a little more than
we would have liked to, and we did not have much success. We
had guys open, we just couldn't get them the ball."

Perhaps the biggest play of the game came early in the
second half as Brockton faced a third and 6 from its own 31
on the opening possession of the half.  Pileski found Spry
for a 12 yard gain and a first down.  The play keyed a nine
play, 73 yard drive that culminated with a 15 yard scoring
that was capped by the same duo, as Pilelski hit Spry for a
15 yard score.  Wilson added the conversion run on a
beautifully executed reverse.

"We wanted to force a three and out and make them punt into
the wind, but they made the big play on third down, then
went down and scored," said Dubzinski.  "That pretty much
was the game.  That's the difference in the game -- they
made the big plays."

Leominster finally got on the board with a six play 64 yard
drive that was capped by a 3 yard run by fullback Chris
Powers.  Nowokunski had two key runs of 10 and 21 yards on
the drive which was also aided by a pair of personal fouls
on the Boxers.

But Leominster again shot itself in the foot with a penalty,
as they were drawn offsides by a Brockton shift on a fourth
down play, giving the Boxers a first down.

"You can't make mistakes like that against Brockton and
win," said Dubzinski.  "We haven't been offsides all year,
but we were jumping all over the place (Friday).

"Matt does a nice job with the snap counts.  He drew them
off five or six times with it," added Colombo.  "That's
something that we were missing in the games he didn't play."

The Boxers made the Devils pay for the mistake four plays
after the penalty.  On a fourth and 10 from the Leominster
10, Pilexki found Spry in the right corner of the end zone
to finish off the 28-6 triumph.

"This is Brockton, I'm very proud of how we came back
with a win over a good unbeaten team," said Columbo, whose
team faces Pinkerton Academy next week.  "we're back to
respectability."

The Blue devils will try and bounce back next Friday night
with a road game at Milford.  It was a win over Milford
after a a blowout loss to Brockton last year that sparked
Leominster's Super bowl run.

"I told the kids we lost 35-0 last year and then beat
Milford, North Middlesex and Fitchburg to get into the Super
Bowl," said Dubzinski.  "So it is possible to rebound from a
loss like this.  We need to refocus and come ready to paly
against Milford.  That's always a touch game."

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