Underdogs perfectly fine with Raiders
By Chris Maza
Article Launched:11/22/2006 10:57:35 AM EST

FITCHBURG -- Some say that in a game like the Thanksgiving
Day matchup between Leominster and Fitchburg, records don't
matter.

"Fitchburg-Leominster is a different game. It doesn't matter
what your record is," Fitchburg cornerback Brett Barrows
said. "It doesn't matter who you beat. It's just a different
game."

Fitchburg head coach Ray Cosenza has an interesting take on
that.

"People say that when they're the underdogs like we are, so
I don't know if that's true," Cosenza said with a smile. "I
think that's true in a sense, but there's no question how
good they (Leominster) are and that we are the underdogs. We
realize that and we're going to come up with our best effort
and see what happens."

Indeed, on paper the Red Raiders appear to be less favored
to prevail in this year's chapter of the
Fitchburg-Leominster epic.

Fitchburg enters the game with a 4-6 record and a 1-3 record
in Division 1, while Leominster is headed to its
second-straight Super Bowl after going 7-3 overall and a
perfect 4-0 in the league.  Advertisement

Fitchburg's up-and-down season started off rough. Two losses
to Eastern Mass. powers in Xaverian and Everett and a
heartbreaker to Wachusett Regional on a missed extra point,
with a win against Shrewsbury mixed in, led to a 1-3 record
to open the year.

Things didn't get much better in Week 5 when Brockton took
it to the Raiders. But Fitchburg followed up that loss with
its most dominating game of the season when it defeated
Gardner, 21-3.

Fitchburg couldn't continue its winning ways in Week 7,
falling 19-6 to St. John's of Shrewsbury.

The Raiders finally posted back-to-back wins in Weeks 8 and
9.

Fitchburg rode quarterback Jeremy Kimber's arm to victory at
Nashoba Regional to pull out a 24-20 win, then knocked off a
Marlborough team that defeated Leominster earlier in the
season.

But tight end Dan Minichiello doesn't put a lot of stock
into that.

"We think about it a little, but even if we beat Marlborough
and (Leominster) lost, they beat Brockton and we lost to
Brockton," Minichiello said.

Fitchburg couldn't make it three in a row against Division 1
rival North Middlesex Regional, falling 30-16 in its last
game.

While Cosenza doesn't necessarily agree that records don't
matter, he does believe special things can happen on
Thanksgiving.

"This isn't exactly like any other game," Cosenza said. "It
does sort of take on a life of its own."

That's not to say Cosenza is looking for a Thanksgiving Day
miracle.

Rather, the Red Raiders are working harder than ever.

"We prepare hard every game, but we know how much this game
means," Kimber said. "This is our Super Bowl."

The Red Raiders are working especially hard at trying to
capture the magic they've created at times this season on
offense.

"Offensively, we've shown signs of brilliance. We've just
been inconsistent," Cosenza said. "There have been times
where we've hit the wall, like short yardage down near the
goal line and not being able to get in. You know, just not
being able to make that key play when we need it. We have
shown signs of what we think we can do, we just have to be
more consistent with it."

Kimber is the team's general on offense, coming in with a
league-leading 1,105 passing yards to go along with 12
touchdowns.

His favorite target this year has been Josh Less, who has
449 receiving yards.

Running back Jon Gomez has flown under the radar on his way
close to 1,000 yards on the ground to give the Raiders a
balanced attack.

Defensively, the Raiders come into the game having allowed
more points than any other Division 1 team and will have
their hands full with the Blue Devils offense and their
leader, Jon Hernandez.

"Everything they do concerns us. They're good," Cosenza
said. "That's why they have the record that they have and
are going to be playing in the Division 1 Super Bowl."

But free safety Mike Grenier said he saw encouraging things
from the defensive unit in their wins against Gardner (21-3)
and Marlborough (48-41) and thinks if they can get back to
that, the Raiders can emerge victorious.

"If our defense plays the way we did against Gardner and
Marlborough, we'll be in good shape," Grenier said.

Matt Fraticelli said if the team works as a unit, stopping
Leominster is possible.

"We just have to play together as a team and, you know, play
tough," Fraticelli said. "We can't back down."

Most important, Cosenza said, is making a good first
impression both on offense and defense.

"I think the thing we've talked to our kids about is winning
the battle on first downs on both sides of the ball,"
Cosenza said. "On offense, we'd like to come up second-and-5
more than second-and-8 and on defense, we'd like just the
opposite to happen, put them in a second-and-8. First down
for us is a big key."

One thing Cosenza says for sure is his team won't be
deviating from its game plan.

"Not really. It's our 18th year here as a staff. We prepare
the same we do for every game," Cosenza said. "We don't
change what we do, we don't look for gimmicks. We still come
out and play Red Raider football and hopefully our kids have
prepared well enough and execute well enough that it could
be a great game."

The only difference Cosenza sees is the long layoff before
the game.

"The hard part is getting them to peak at the right time,"
he said. "This is a long preparation. This is a week and a
half, which is way different than your four days normally.

"The key is to slowly let it build and hopefully we peak at
the right time and play a great game that morning."

Cosenza said his team knows that it's not going to be an
easy time on Thursday, but he hopes the players take the
time to appreciate the opportunity to play on Thanksgiving
Day.

"We know we have our work cut out for us," Cosenza
said. "But this is a fun game, no matter where you stand
going in."

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