Brockton’s counters KO pesky Fitchburg

Boxers rally behind QB Askew to win

By Brendan Hall CORRESPONDENT
BROCKTON— Chances to put an uneasy September behind them
looked good early for the Fitchburg High Red Raiders in the
latest meeting of their tough rivalry with Brockton
High. Then Brockton’s magician made them vanish.

After taking a slim lead over the Boxers with time winding
down in the second quarter, Fitchburg surrendered a safety
and two touchdowns, all unanswered, to fall, 24-8, yesterday
at Marciano Stadium.

Fitchburg fell to 1-4, while Brockton improved to 3-2.   

"Our effort was great, and that’s the bottom line,"
Red Raiders coach Ray Cosenza said. "We made some mental
mistakes, and they made some plays. I mean, their
quarterback (Vaughn Askew) just made some plays. It wasn’t
because of a lack of effort, he’s just an incredible
athlete."

Fitchburg took advantage of some early Brockton miscues and
took the lead for a short period in the second. After
recovering two Boxers fumbles in the red zone, to
three-and-out misses, Fitchburg got its first big break when
Matt Fraticelli’s punt was downed roughly a foot before the
goal line. Jon Berthiaume then hit running back Josh Marsh
in the backfield for a safety.

Thanks to a wobbly Lamar Henry kick on the ensuing punt,
Fitchburg got a great break again, this time starting its
drive at the Brockton 40. Keeping the chains moving with
short passes, Jeremy Kimber (12 of 19, 123 yards, one
interception) punctuated the drive with a quick 5-yard slant
to Josh Less for the touchdown. Kimber’s point-after pass
was picked off, and the Raiders held an 8-7 lead.

That lead disappeared less than a minute late. Three plays
into the next drive, Askew (151 all-purpose yards) rolled
right on a designed quarterback run. Seeing pressure from
the right, he changed directions and scampered around the
left side, zooming past everyone for a 57-yard
touchdown. Jamar Greene ran in the two-point conversion.

The Boxers then turned the tables in the second half by
pinning Fitchburg at its own 1 on a punt. Louis Jacobs then
burst through the A-gap on the Red Raiders’ first play and
brought down Fraticelli in the end zone for the safety.

Brockton added to its score with less than two minutes to go
on a 13-yard touchdown run by Marsh. Henry’s kick was good.

Fitchburg High School Athletics and Competition Home Page