Fitchburg -- All of those future opponents of the Fitchburg High football team had better hope this was not the "game of hte year."
The first-ever meeting between St. Peter-Marian and Fitchburg High was hyped on the basis of past history, each team making a habit of trips to the postseason in recent years. But the Red Raiders left little doubt who was the better team Friday night.
Taking advantage of turnovers, the Red Raiders put the ball in the hands of their talented backfield trio on the wet Crocker Field turf. The end reuslt was a solid and efficient 34-6 bictory over the Guardians. "We just beat a very good football team," said Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza. "We're very happy. We just beat a team with a great tradition."
The loss ended a 17-game winning streak for St. Peter-Marian, dating back to October 1994 when Oakmont prevailed. The Guardians had also won 42 of their last 43 games dating back to an opening-night loss to Burncoat in 1992, the first year of their run of four straight Division 2 Super Bowl berths.
Then again the Raiders have a tradition of their own -- five straight trips to the Super Bowl themselves, with designs of continuing that particular streak.
Turnovers turned out to be the biggest nightmare for the Guardians in the wet condidtions, but were as much a direct result of Fitchburg's vicious defense as anything else.
Sophomore Keith Leavitt, who will make an enormous impact by the time his FHS playing days are done, recovered fumbles to end the first two St. Peter-Marian drives and set up Fitchburg scores.
"I think we have a better football team than we showed. We're not going to be as good as the last few years and Fitchburg is awesome," said Guardians coach Owen Kilcoyne, "We didn't play well, but Fitchburg had something to do with that. Give credit where credit is due."
Matt Salilla caused the first on the Guardians' first possession, belting quarterback Kevin Gould as Leavitt fell on the loose ball. Then it was up to the backfield of Ricky Morales, Chris Roy and quarterback Devin Gates who mixed up the work and all got on the scoreboard before the first half was through.
"They started keying on Chris in the beginning," said Morales, who finished with 153 yards and three touchdowns. "When the coaches noticed that, I started getting the ball."
"Its tough to defend all three of them," Cosenza said.
Gates did the bulk of the work on the first drive and capped it with a 1-yard sneak to make it 6-0. Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, Leavitt snagged a bad handoff out of mid-air and was on block away from rumbling the length of the field for the score.
It didn't matter, though, as Fitchburg continued to swiftly march through the Guardians defense and Roy eventually capped it with a 25-yard score on the right side. Gates hit Robbie Seguin for the conversion and a 14-0 lead after one.
The Fitchburg defense continued to apply the pressure, shutting down a usually potent St Peter-Marian attack for the most part. Sophomore Dustin LeBlanc was a constant presence in the backfield while Genaro Hall, Fred Robinson, Shawn Lord and Gates came up with several big stops. Morales also had a key play with an interception of a Gould pass that gave the Raiders another shot with 1:04 left in the half, and Morales wasted no time cashing in on the other side. Taking a toss around the right side, Morales hesitated a couple of times and stutter stepped before finally breaking away for the 60-yard score.
"Our kids wanted this challenge," Cosenza said of facing St Peter Marian.
Another fumble, recovered by Hall after Robinson blasted Gould, gave the Raiders the ball at the 11 early in the third quarter. Morales scored from 7 yards out then added his third touchdown on a 63 yard jaunt with 7:25to go.