Boxers rally, give Devils the boot
Saturday, October 27, 2001

By Rich Garven
Telegram & Gazette Staff 

Brockton 24 Leominster 22

BROCKTON-- It wasn't the finish the Leominster High football
team envisioned, but it was certainly unforgettable.

     Senior Miguel Oliva kicked a 36-yard field goal with
six seconds remaining to lift Brockton to a 24-22 victory
over Leominster last night before 2,000 fans at Marciano
Stadium.

     It was a great high school football game, LHS
coach John Dubzinski said. It was one of those games
where neither team deserved to lose, but they pulled it out
in the end.

     The Boxers (4-4) have now beaten the Blue Devils (7-1)
11 straight times and own a 20-6 edge in this series, which
started in 1974. Unlike some of those past losses,
Leominster more than held its own this time out.

     In fact, the Blue Devils seemed to have victory in
hand. They made a fourth-down defensive stop at their own 45
and then marched to the Brockton 33 before turning over the
ball on downs with 35 seconds to play.

     However, Brockton quarterback Eric McDougald quickly
completed sideline passes of 35 yards to Justin Council --
off a tip -- and 21 yards to Shane Perkins to reach the
Leominster 18.

     The Blue Devils called timeout, but Oliva obviously
wasn't affected as his kick sailed down the middle and
cleared the crossbar with room to spare. It was the
first-year player's first field goal.

     Coach (Armond Colombo) asked me to come out for
team; he said I could help, said Oliva, a 5-foot-10,
270-pound defensive tackle. I guess I did tonight.

     The brightest star on the field, though, was Leominster
quarterback Kevin Barnaby.

     The junior completed 6 of 13 passes for 135 yards and 3
touchdowns. He had one interception (on a tipped ball) and
three of his incompletions were drops.  Barnaby also rushed
for 38 yards on six carries.

     The Blue Devils, though, were held to a season-low 113
yards rushing. Junior tailback Kevin L'Ecuyer, who came in
averaging 210 yards, gained 61 on 16 carries.

     They were stopping the run, so we figured we'd open
it up with the pass.  Barnaby said as he walked off the
field, his chin held high.

     Leominster trailed at halftime, 13-6, but needed just
two plays to take the lead.  After completing a 13-yard pass
to Bobby LeBlanc, Barnaby connected with wideout Jose
Navarro on a quick hit.  Navarro caught the ball around the
line of scrimmage and sprinted 55 yards down the right
sideline untouched for the score.

     Barnaby's conversion pass to Blake Curry made it 14-13
with 45 seconds gone in the third quarter.

     An exchange of interceptions then set Brockton up at
the Leominster 12. Tyronne Pruitt carried three straight
times, the last for 3 yards and a score.

     McDougald's conversion pass after a roughing-the-passer
penalty gave Brockton a second chance, extending the Boxers'
lead to 21-14 with 1:41 to go in the third.

     Pruitt, a 6-foot, 190-pound sophomore tailback, also
scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards in the first half. He
finished with 144 yards rushing on 26 carries, but was held
to 40 yards in the second half.

     Defensively, nose guard Jason Ouellette, linebackers
James Giadone and Pat Moran, and back Ryan Rendon (2 fumble
recoveries) led the Blue Devils.

     Leominster regained the lead with 5:51 to play as
Barnaby dropped back, pump-faked and hit Navarro in stride
down the right side for a 25-yard TD pass.

     “I made the read and he was open,” said Barnaby,
who also connected with Mark Daigneault for a 10-yard
scoring pass in the second quarter.

     When Barnaby found Moran open in the left corner of the
end zone for the conversion, the Blue Devils were up,
22-21. It wasn't enough, though, as the Boxers found a way
to win at the end.

     Besides suffering their first loss, the Blue Devils
also may have lost linemen Kyle Clarke and Mark Chiurri
after both left the game with leg injuries.

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