L'ecuyer the primary threat in Leominster's arsenal
 By Rick Eggleston Staff Writer

 LEOMINSTER -- It didn't qualify as a sideshow, but rather
it was an interestingnovelty which made the Leominster
football team's offense stand out from all the rest last
season.

If anything, it was something that hadn't been around these
parts in quite some time -- if at all -- as then senior
quarterbacks Joe Henrie and Jim Malone alternated every down
of every game at the position to lead the Blue Devils to a
solid 7-4 mark last season.

Nonetheless, the unorthodox move often left numerous teams
scratching their heads when facing the Devils. That much
held true for the first five weeks of the season, when
Leominster scored a whopping 148 points and posted a pair of
shutouts for a sizzling 5-0 start.

And according to Leominster coach John Dubzinski, his team
very well could've been 6-0.

"We had a good situation there in being able to rotate
(Henrie and Malone) at quarterback. I never thought that was
going to work, but it worked out beautifully,'' said
Dubzinski, who sets out on his 16th consecutive season with
the Blue Devils, 7 p.m. Friday at non-league foe
Marlboro. "To be honest, (last season) was a bit of
surprise. We finished up 7-4, with the one game that
probably got away from us being the loss to Shrewsbury.''

With the other losses coming by way of fellow Mid-Wach A
opponents St. John's, Milford and eventual Division 1
Central/Western Mass. Super Bowl champion Fitchburg.

Not surprisingly, all four teams figure to be prime
contenders within the league once again this season. And
despite the departure of Henrie and Malone, has seen
Leominster emerge as an early front-runner.

"I like the league, I think it's going to be very
competitive,'' said Dubzinski, whose schedule rounds out
with anticipated non-league tilts with Marlboro on Friday,
Doherty Sept. 14, St. Peter-Marian Sept. 28 and long-time
Eastern Mass. nemesis Brockton Oct. 26.

"All the teams are going to be pretty good, I don't think
there's really any bad team in our league -- if you don't
come to ready play you're going to get beat.''

Aside from the rushing antics of Henrie and Malone, gone
from the Blue Devils' offense is tailback Ed Sanchez, tight
end Shaun Booth, wide receiver Dayne Williams, and linemen
Pat Halligan, Jack Reed and Chris Carlin. Defensively, the
Devils lost the bulk of their secondary with the departures
of Jim Loiselle, Henrie and Malone.

"We lost some good kids who did a nice job last year,'' said
Dubzinski. "We're very young at some spots -- we're going to
have some juniors who will be playing for the first time
that will become good players. It's going to be a little
tough the first few games, but I think once these kids get
some game experience and a little more confidence we're
going to be a much better team.''

Offensively, Leominster will look to former junior varsity
standout Kevin Barnaby to get the job done at
quarterback. The junior righty will be backed up by fellow
classmate Chris Cote.

A solid mix of returning seniors and juniors round out an
offense that will feature a three-man rotation at fullback
with senior Billy Gabriel, and juniors Jamie Giadone and Pat
Moran. But the life-blood of the offense lies in the return
of junior startering tailback Kevin L'ecuyer.

"Our offense is going to center around L'ecuyer. He returns
at tailback after rushing for 800 yards last season and
scoring eight or nine touchdowns,'' said Dubzinski. "We had
high hopes for him and tried to bring him along slowly, but
we got into a situation where we just weren't happy with
what we had and we kind of threw him in there, and he
responded very well. ... We look to him as our main
offensive threat.''

Senior leaders Jose Navarro (wide receiver), Mike DiLillo
(left guard), Gabriel and Ken Norton (center) also return on
offense, and will captain the Devils.

In total, 12 seniors bring valuable game experience to the
lineup and have already earned starting jobs, including
guards Eddie Ceric and Mark Chiurri, defensive ends Bobby
LeBlanc, Jason Ouelette and Greg McNally, cornerbacks Brian
LeBlanc and Mark LaPrade, and wide receiver Armin Keidel.

Brian LeBlanc and LaPrade will be joined by junior starter
Adam Meza in the secondary, and junior inside linebackers
Giadone and Moran return to their starting assignments to
anchor the defense.

"We have some decent kids up front,'' said Dubzinki. "Right
now our defense is going to be ahead of our offense. I think
we're going to be pretty good against the run.''

Back on offense, juniors Matt Daigneault (tight end) and
Blake Curry (wide receiver) will be two of Barnaby's
favorite targets, and junior Joe O'Connell will play
alongside Chiurri, DiLillo, Ceric and Norton on the line.

"At 6-3, Curry has good height and can catch the ball,''
noted Dubzinski. "I think we'll be able to throw the ball a
little better this year. ... I think we'll be able to mix it
up pretty good.''  

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