Patriots' Offense Edges Raiders
By Jim Clark
TOWNSEND -- With the change of the Super Bowl format, it is no longer possible for Fitchburg and North Middlesex to meet in the postseason, as they did five years in a row earlier this decade. So now the teams will have to settle for one great game per season.
Sports Editor
Friday night's renewal at John E. Young Memorial Field was no exception, and Noth Middlesex continues to hold the upper hand in the brief, but intense rivalry. Marc Erricolo's 67-yard touchdown run with 6:05 to play capped a wild offensife showdown to give the Patriots a 33-29 win over the Red Raiders.
"Any time you hook up with Fitchburg, you know it's going to be a great game," said Noth Middlesex coach John Margarita. "It was a typical North Middlesex-Fitchburg game, down to the wire, and both teams palyed very very well."
North Middlesex (6-3) rallied from a 14-point second quarter deficit by scoring on three straight possessions, eventually taking the lead for the first time early in the fourth quarter. Fitchburg answered right back with a drive to set up the last of three touchdowns by Andy LeBlanc (22 carries, 114 yards), giving FHS a 29-26 leaad with 6:58 to go.
The Patriots took over after the kickoff at their own 35, and lost a couple yards on first down. Then Erricolo took a toss from quarterback Andy Jastrab, broke around the right side past a great block from Andy Kimball, and scooted all the way down the sidline into the end zone.
"They made the big plays on us," said FHS coarch Ray Cosenza. "We drove the ball and scored, they made the big plays and scored. It's a crazy game, but it's always that way against them."
The teams combined for nearly 800 yards total offense, with Noth Middlesex getting 341 on the ground and 404 overall. Erricolo had 120 yards on eight carries, with Jastrab adding 111 yards on nine tries.
But it was still a matter of holding off the Red Raiders, who were piling it up on the ground themselves. They had been having good success with Andy LeBlanc and his backfield mate Dustin LeBlanc (19 carries, 133 yards), but stalled on downs at the 42.
North Middlesex took over with 2:21 left, but was unaable to run out the clock, giving Fithburg one last chance from its 14. A 36-yard completion from David Masciarelli to Tom Snow on fourth down kep it alive, but several last ditch pass attempts went incompete.
The Raiders got on the board early thanks to a fumble on Noth Middlesex's first play. It took only four plays before Andy LeBlanc scored from 19 yards for a 7-0 lead. But the Patriots responded with a solid drive and tied it on Matt Jeannote's 2-yard plunge.
The Raiders seemed to be in good shape in the second quarter, junping out to a 21-7 lead when Andy LeBlanc scored again from 10 yards, and Masciarelli found Colin Burns on a nice wide receiver screen play, Burns cutting acrosss to the right and outrunning the defensse 63 yards to the end zone.
Going to the air
However, Noth Middlesex got a big score before the half to cut the deficit, a 17 yeard completion from Jastrab to Jeff Brodeur. Jastrab avoided the pressure and rolled to the right before finding Brodeur, who dove into the end zone.
"We went in at halftime and changed some things," Maragrita said. "We changed our kicker (to Mike Hewitt) because we weren't getting good field position."
The Pats also stayed with a good mix on offense, including yet another pass by Jastrab. This time, he faked the run into the line before pulling back and finding Andy Kimball from 16 yards out for the score. But the conversion failed, leaving the Raiders with a precarious 21-20 lead.
"Fitchburg brought nine men up within five yards of the line," Jastrab said of the pass plays. "We just came up big."
Even bigger than his touchdown was Kimball's defensive play on Dustin LeBlanc, dragging him down from behind at the 11 to prevent a touchdown. On the next playk Jess Willard recoverd the fumbled snap to give the Pats the ball.
"We killed ourselves," Cosenza said. " We turned the ball over a few times, and you can't do that against a team like that."
North Middlesex finally took the lead when, from midfield, Jastrab took it around the right side and then made a nice cut-back to get into the open.
Snow returned the kickoff to the 49, putting the Raiders in good shape, and they converted on LeBlanc's 6-yard touch down run with 6:58 to go. But that would be the last offensive highlight as the Pats came up big on defense behind the likes of Ken Crowley (11 tackles), Hewitt, Ed Gans, Scott Roe and Justin burson, amoung others.
Erricolo's touchdown then took care of the offensive part, giving the Pats the lead for good. "Both teams have good teams, good coaching staffs," Jastrab said. "It's just a big rivalry for us. This was a big win for us."
"It was just a great fooball game," Margarita said, "The two teams played hard, they have a lot of respect for each other."