Believe it: Red Raiders are for real

By Chad Garner
Staff Writer

FITCHBURG -- Who said that the Fitchburg Red Raiders
couldn't beat two Eastern Mass. football teams in as many
weeks?

Not the Fitchburg faithful.

After pulling off what others consider a gigantic upset over
Brockton on the road last week, Fitchburg set out to drop
another powerhouse Friday night at Crocker Field.

The dominant Red Raider running game, even without star
fullback Norman Cole who was held out with a mild
concussion, flexed its muscle as senior tailback Frank
McDonald scored two touchdowns and senior left-handed
quarterback Jason Twomley threw for one and scampered for
another, lifting the Red Raiders to their biggest win of the
season -- an eye-popping 31-14 win over Xaverian.

"It's a great feat, it really is," said Fitchburg coach Ray
Cosenza. "It's a tremendous feat for our program. People
asked us if we were crazy playing these two teams back to
back, Brockton and Xaverian. I told are kids 'No we're not
this is the way we like it' and our kids responded."

The Red Raiders (6-0) answered the call on the opening
whistle as McDonald picked up a bouncing ball on the opening
kickoff, rumbled along the near sidelines and juked
Xaverian's Robert Coppola on a nifty cutback for a dramatic
85-yard kickoff return. Ryan Logan added the extra point to
give the Red Raiders a 7-0 lead with 10:39 left in the first
quarter.

Xaverian's (4-2) opening drive ended on its third play from
scrimmage as Fitchburg defensive end Mike Thomas picked off
Hawks quarterback Joe Bickerstaffe at the Xaverian 42.

The ball control Red Raider offense calmled drove 42 yards
to take a 14-point lead. Twomley (93 yards rushing on 11
carries, 3 of 8 passing for 59 yards, TD) picked up 13 yards
on two keepers and McDonald broke free for 14 yards on three
carries, bringing the ball down to the Xaverian 13. After
the Red Raiders called back-to-back timeouts on fourth down,
Twomley found wide receiver Tim Keenan on a well-executed
wide receiver screen for a 13-yard TD reception with 5:44
left in the first quarter.

"It's been a while since we've used it, it was a huge play,"
said Cosenza. "Timmy made a great catch in front of the end
zone. It's something we've been working, we've used it
before. This was a big time to have it work though."

Xaverian finally got its offense untracked with 52 seconds
remaining in the first. The Hawks used a time consuming,
17-play, 66-yard drive to pull within seven. The 7:38 drive
was capped off by speedy tailback Giovanni Benson, who
blasted into the end zone from one yard out with 4:14 left
until the half.

The Hawks took the ball to open up the second half and drove
down to the Fitchburg 34, but on a fourth down attempt, the
aggressive Red Raider defensive line turned the whole
complexion of the game around with a huge stuff on running
back Benson (22 carries for 140 yards, TD).

With the momentum back on the Red Raiders' side, the offense
used a 31-yard jaunt by reserve fullback B.J. Fitz (4
carries for 33 yards), who started in place of Cole, and
four quarterback keepers by Twomley -- setting the ball down
to the 2 where McDonald (20 carries for 67 yards, TD)
cruised in behind a great block by tackle Anthony
Fanelli. Logan's kick gave the Red Raiders breathing room at
21-7 with 2:50 to go in the third.

"We knew we could beat them and we came out and did it. It's
unbelievable," said Twomley. "To beat two eastern
Mass. powerhouses like that ... I don't think anybody
expected it. We answered the bell when we had to. We turned
a lot of heads."

The Xaverian comeback would fall short as the Red Raider
defense forced the Hawks to punt on their next possession,
setting up a game-breaking 38-yard TD run by Twomley on a
designed QB draw. Twomley eluded a defender at the line and
motored to the three-yard line before stumbling into the end
zone.

"Jason Twomley's performance was ... I just can't remember a
better performance in a big game -- it was just
outstanding," said Cosenza. "Jason was just
unbelievable. That touchdown run he had on that QB draw
... it was a great call by Paul DiGeronimo (offensive
coordinator) and Jason made just an incredible run on
it. That was the key."

Logan, after booting four consecutive extra points, was
rewarded for his efforts with a 23-yard field
goal. Xaverian's David Nelson (12 carries for 68 yards, TD)
added a 22-yard TD run late in the fourth quarter in
Fitchburg's stellar victory.  

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