Raiders KO Boxers
Saturday, October 7, 2000

By Steve Kendall
CORRESPONDENT 

Fitchburg 28 Brockton 14
BROCKTON -- Fitchburg senior quarterback
Jason Twomley has made plenty of big plays
over the years, but few were as big as the ones
he made last night.
         With the Red Raiders leading by seven
with seven minutes to play, and facing a
fourth-and-1 from their own 37, Twomley
picked up the first down. Two plays later, he hit
Norman Cole for a 61-yard gain, setting up
Cole's game-clinching touchdown in Fitchburg's
28-14 win over previously unbeaten Brockton
at Rocky Marciano Stadium.
         "Jay made a lot of good decisions with
the ball," Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza said.
"He's been a big-time player for us for a while
now, and he made some big plays tonight. But
we had a ton of big plays tonight by a lot of
different people."
         Twomley rushed for 107 yards and a
touchdown and completed all three of his
passes for 103 yards as Fitchburg, the
top-ranked team in the Telegram & Gazette
Top 10, improved to 5-0. It also marked the
fourth time in five years that the Raiders have
defeated the Boxers, a feat not many teams can
lay claim to.
         Brockton, considered one of the top three
teams in Eastern Mass., fell to 4-1.
         "I can't even explain how it feels (to beat
Brockton four times in five years)," Cosenza
said. "To have this kind of success against a
team with the tradition of Brockton is a real
credit to the kids and coaches here at Fitchburg
High."
         "Give Fitchburg credit. They are an
excellent football team with a lot of guys who
can hurt you," Brockton coach Armond
Colombo said. "They beat us up front and
made the big plays all night. That was the
difference. They made big plays and we didn't."
         As for the fourth-down play, Cosenza
said there was little doubt the Red Raiders
would go for it.
         "It wasn't a tough decision. We knew we
were going for it on that play," he said. "Our
offensive line has done a great job all year, and
we knew they would get us that yard."
         Cole also had a big night, accumulating
142 total yards -- including 81 rushing -- to go
along with his touchdown. Frank McDonald
scored twice, but saw limited action because of
an injury suffered late in the first half.
         As big as Twomley's plays were, they
might not have occurred had it not been for a
big play by Fitchburg's defense. With Brockton
driving toward a tying touchdown in the fourth
quarter, defensive end Mike Thomas swatted
down a Michael Kershaw pass on a
fourth-and-4 play from the 15, giving the ball to
Fitchburg and setting up the game-clinching
drive.
         Thomas' play came just minutes after
Brockton had taken over the momentum on a
19-yard touchdown from Patrick Emmanuel
and a great defensive stand that forced
Fitchburg to punt for the first time.
         "I'm thrilled with the way our defense
played. Brockton has a great offensive team,
and we did a good job of stopping the big play,"
Cosenza said. "Tim (Keenan) made a huge
tackle early in the game, and Mike (Thomas)
had the big play late. Again, a lot of guys made
a lot of big plays. That's the way it's been all
year, and it was the key tonight."
         The Red Raiders dominated the first half,
scoring on their first three possessions, running
up 232 yards of offense while controlling the
ball for nearly 17 minutes. Fitchburg established
its running game early, methodically marching
downfield. McDonald capped the monster
16-play, 78-yard drive with a 2-yard run.
         The defense then came up with a big
stand, twice stopping the Boxers on short
yardage at the Fitchburg 13 to take over on
downs. After the stop, the Red Raiders' ground
game went back to work. A 44-yard run by
Cole brought the ball to the Boxers' 43, and
Twomley followed with a 33-yard run around
right end. Four plays later, Twomley plunged in
from a yard out for a 14-0 lead.
         Brockton wasted little time in answering
Twomley's score, as Robert Whittaker scored
on a well-disguised reverse, racing 65 yards
untouched down the left sideline for the
touchdown.
         The momentum looked to be swinging in
Brockton's direction after a pair of runs were
stopped cold. But Twomley came up big, rolling
left and firing a perfect pass to Tim Keenan for
a 37-yard gain to the Brockton 15. Four plays
later, McDonald went over the top for a 21-7
lead at the half.
         The Raiders will look for an Eastern
Mass. sweep when they host another highly
regarded team, Xaverian, Friday at Crocker
Field. Brockton defeated Xaverian two weeks
ago, 17-7, for Colombo's 300th career win.
         “I'm not even going to think about next
week. If I do, I won't be able to enjoy this
win,” Cosenza said. 

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