Devils hold on for victory
By Rick Eggleston
Staff Writer


LEOMINSTER -- It seems nothing has come easy for the
Leominster football team as of late -- at least in the last
two weeks -- and Friday night's Division 1 hook-up with
Nashoba Regional proved no differently.

Instead, like they have for much of this season, the Blue
Devils relied on their defense to get the job done Friday
night at Doyle Field, stopping the lion-hearted Chieftains
deep in Leominster territory on the very last play of the
game for a dramatic 24-17 win.

On fourth-and-goal from the Leominster 8 with eight seconds
remaining, Nashoba running back Dave Baczkowski went left
with the handoff from quarterback Jamie Tucker only to be
greeted by Blue Devil tackle Adam Meza and a Chieftain
teammate who inadvertently aided Meza in bringing Baczkowski
down.

According to Nashoba co-head coach Ken Tucker, his team --
despite missing three key starters in Eric Horvath, Jeff
Landi and Mike Clark -- played its best game of the season.

If not, their hardest.

"That's what I told the kids, I'm very proud of them. I'm
just proud of the effort we gave tonight than of anything we
done this season,'' said Tucker, whose squad dipped to 2-5
on the season. "Banged, battered, bruised, missing tons of
people, the kids played their hearts out, and when you play
that way you deserve to win. Not that Leominster didn't,
because they played the same way, I'm just saying we
should've been rewarded -- sometimes you don't get rewarded
for your efforts.''

And judging by the Chieftains heroic attempt in the second
half behind the throwing arm of Jamie Tucker and rushing of
Baczkowski and Mike Forhan (15 carries, 119 yards), the
Devils had about all they could handle before pulling out
the win with an awesome drive late in the fourth quarter.

"We struggled on offense, Nashoba did a great job on
defense,'' said Leominster coach John Dubzinski, whose team
improved to 6-1 on the season, while remaining undefeated in
the league.

With the Chieftains having rallied to reclaim a 17-16 edge
behind a Mike Philbin 39-yard field goal in the third and
Forhan 36-yard jaunt at the start of the fourth, the Blue
Devils -- buoyed by the rushing antics of quarterback Jim
Malone and sophomore star Kevin L'ecuyer (eight carries, 150
yards) -- countered with a quick six-play strike that
resulted in Malone streaking 35 yards for the
touchdown. L'ecuyer ran in the two-point conversion, giving
Leominster all it would need.

"We knew it was going to come down to another one point
game. We did a great job when we got behind, we stopped them
down there and we got a nice little drive going,'' said
Dubzinski. "Malone made a nice play off the waggle -- it was
either run or pass, and he made the right choice with a nice
cut down the sideline.''

The Chieftains were able to hold their own against the
favored Blue Devils in the first half. So much so, that it
was Nashoba drew first blood late first quarter behind a
nine-play, 52-yard drive capped off by a Philbin 34-yard
pass reception from quarterback Tucker on a gutsy
fourth-and-15 play call.

Darting down the right sideline, Philbin turned around at
just the right time as he crossed the goalline to see
Tucker's pass in front him, and made a great leaping catch
over the Leominster defensive back to haul in the ball for
the TD. Forhan ran in for the two-point conversion and the
Chieftains led 8-0.

Leominster took over from its own 35, but again the stingy
Nashoba defense came up with some big plays, as Brian Melone
burst off the line to sack Leominster quarterback Henrie for
a three-yard loss. Two plays later, the Devils punted, and
Nashoba took over from its own 25.

In need of a big stop, the Devils answered the call behind a
pair of key plays turned by defensive end Jim Giadone, who
sacked Tucker for a six-yard loss on third down. With
Nashoba forced to punt from its own 20, Henrie stepped back
to the 50 to receive the kick from Philbin.

Sure enough, the kick sailed high and short to Henrie, who
reeled in the boot at the Nashoba 45 and ran it back for the
touchdown. Malone completed the conversion pass to tight end
Shaun Booth on the right side, and with 9:13 left made it an
8-8 affair.

The big play on special team seemed to do the trick for the
Devils, who again forced the Chieftains to go four-and-out
on their ensuing possession. This time Steve Comerford
provided a nice hit in the Nashoba backfield for a
three-yard loss, as Leominster would be forced to go to work
from its own 16.

After racking up key gains for over 100 yards against
Shrewsbury last week, the Devils' proverbial secret weapon
was unleashed again, as L'ecuyer took a handoff from Malone
on third down 87 yards down the right sideline for the
touchdown and 14-8 Leominster lead. Leominster -- which sent
Henrie out to try the extra point for usual kicker Garrett
Donatelli -- faked the PAT, with L'ecuyer taking the snap on
the run and streaking to his right into the end zone for the
two-point conversion.

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