Blue Devils shut out Red Raiders
By Mike LeClair Article Launched:11/19/2006 01:02:51 PM EST
FITCHBURG -- Saturday's game may have been labeled the Chicken Bowl, but the Leominster JV football team spent the morning handing out goose eggs. Leominster opened an early first-quarter lead and then the defense made it stick. The Blue Devils kept host Fitchburg out of the end zone in a 12-0 win in Saturday morning's Chicken Bowl at Crocker Field. "We started out really good on offense and then our defense played great the whole game. Our defense has played well all year and they finished it off with a great game today," said Leominster (5-4-1) coach Mario Meza. "We couldn't get a first down in the second half and just couldn't move the ball. Fitchburg played great defense." Eleven plays into the game's opening drive, the Blue Devils hit paydirt. The scoring play came on fourth-and-one from the Fitchburg 18. Quarterback Patrick O'Connor kept the ball and snuck into the end zone with 4:40 on the clock. The Red Raiders gave the ball right back to the Blue Devils three plays later when Corey Mastrapasqua recovered Advertisement a fumble at the Fitchburg 47 with 3:25 remaining, cutting the field in half and giving Leominster great position. Leominster needed just seven plays to strike again. The highlight of the drive was a 2-yard touchdown run by Dave Arsenault with 20 seconds left in the quarter. That would all the scoring the two teams could muster, as both defenses stepped up and played monster games the rest of the way. Fitchburg (3-4) had its chances, driving the ball down inside the Leominster 15-yard line three times before the half, but a fumble, a stuff on fourth down kept the Red Raiders scoreless. "We turned the ball over a few times and we almost got one late in the second quarter, but every time we gave the ball back to them our defense stepped up," said Meza. In the second half, Fitchburg was limited to just 28 yards of total offense on five possessions. The closest the Red Raiders got the goal line after halftime was when they moved the ball to the Leominster 30-yard line thanks to some strong running by Isiah Ford and Greg Mendez and the guidance of quarterback Kyle Boudreau, but a personal foul cost them 15 yards and ultimately a chance at the end zone. With just over two minutes left, the Red Raiders got a shot in the arm when the defense shut down Arsenault on fourth-and-seven. The Red Raiders got the ball back and Boudreau found Ford for an 8-yard pickup through the air, moving the ball to the Leominster 47. Next, Boudreau connected with Adam Easley for six-yards moving to the 40. A sack by Chris Harris moved the ball back 3 yards before Boudreau found Ford again for 12 yards. However, a sack on first down and an incomplete pass set up a fourth-and-long. Boudreau went back to pass but his heave was picked off by Hector Melendez to seal the deal for Leominster. "We had some nice little drives, but we fumbled three times and had a couple of penalties," said Fitchburg coach Mick O'Reilly. "I think it was a good game. I think it was the best JV game of the past three years."
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