Rivalry game one to remember
 
 By Ross Edwards Article Launched:
11/24/2007 10:22:12 AM EST

FITCHBURG -- If ever there was a Thanksgiving Day football game worthy
of second -- or even third -- helpings, Thursday's heart-pounding
clash between Leominster and Fitchburg was it.

"It's a great win for our kids ..." said Leominster coach John
Dubzinski. "We knew (Fitchburg was) going to come out and play (well),
and it came down to the last play of the game."

The Blue Devils barely held off a late charge by the Red Raiders to
emerge with the 14-13 victory at Crocker Field in the 124th
installment of the rivalry game. Along the way, there were more than a
few moments worthy of a deeper look.

The unsung heroes

Things got off to a very grim start for the visiting team.

After fielding the opening kickoff, Leominster fumbled the ball away
on the first play from scrimmage, giving Fitchburg excellent field
position at the Leominster 21-yard line.

Leominster's defense held firm, however, stopping Fitchburg fullback
Matt Fraticelli just short of a first down on fourth-and-3.

Then, the Blue Devils got to work, putting together an 89-yard scoring
drive that consumed over nine minutes of clock and set the tone for
the rest of the first half -- what little remained of it by the time
the epic march was over.

The argument could be made that the heroes of that game-defining drive
went by the names Chris Daigneault, Kyle Salisbury, Michael Amico,
Matt Whitney and Derek Boucher -- Leominster's offensive
linemen. Articulate and thoughtful after the
game, the big men on the Leominster line resembled bruising barbarians
when the ball was snapped.  "It's the best feeling in the world," said
Daigneault. "I've been waiting for this all my life. We're finally
here and get a shot, and it happens. It's the greatest feeling in the
world."

Three times during the first scoring drive of the game, Leominster
went for it on fourth-and-short, putting the ball in the hands of a
different player each time. Every time, the Blue Devil linemen got
just enough of a push to move the chains. That includes a
fourth-and-goal scenario at the Fitchburg 1-yard line, during which
quarterback Justin Kittredge was able to puncture the goal line on a
keeper.

"On my right was (tight end) Joe Thibaudeau and on my left was Anthony
Melendez, and then Dan Creed had great blocking," said
Salisbury. "Justin Kittredge, when he was blocking he was good. Then
our backs were just ripping it up there really well today.

"It was definitely quite a win for us -- very traditional Leominster
football."

A hard-fought contest

Fitchburg's players may have been disappointed with the game's
outcome, but there was no reason for the Red Raiders to hang their
heads when all was said and done.

After getting pushed around for much of the first half, Fitchburg
pushed back once the third quarter got underway.

After halftime, Fitchburg took the opening kickoff and put together an
impressive drive of its own. The Red Raiders marched 61 yards and ate
up over six minutes on their way to their first touchdown of the day.

Unleashing talented back Johnny Gomez, the Red Raiders took the fight
right at Leominster, matching their opponents' physicality and
intensity. After being stopped twice on fourth down in the first half,
Fitchburg had the confidence to try again on fourth-and-short, and
Gomez easily cleared the distance.

Two plays later, after 11 straight rushing calls, coach Ray Cosenza
mixed things up and rolled star quarterback Jeremy Kimber out to his
left. As Kimber turned, he fired over a Leominster defender to an open
Fraticelli for a 5-yard touchdown, cutting the Leominster lead in half
with the help of Luke Arno's extra point.

Later, Fitchburg engineered another fantastic scoring drive,
culminating in a touchdown with only 46 seconds remaining in the
game. Cosenza opted to go for the two-point conversion to try to win
it outright, but Leominster was able to break up the play and barely
escape.

"We had our chance, and they had a good defense called on the
two-point conversion and that was the game," said Cosenza. "But our
kids, after really not playing well and getting pushed around in the
first half, came out and turned it around in the second half and I'm
really proud of them for that."

Four in a row

"They always beat us in Pop Warner," said Leominster's Alex Rivera.

Taken out of context, Rivera's comment might be misconstrued as
derisive. In actuality, Pop Warner probably was the last time he and
his fellow seniors felt like they were under Fitchburg's thumb.

The Leominster Class of '08 has accomplished something that not many
others can lay claim to, as the group is on its way to graduation
having never tasted defeat in the Thanksgiving Day game.

During a pep rally earlier in the week, Leominster principal Tom
Browne let the seniors know that they had a shot at something special.

"Four years in a row," said Salisbury. "Mr. Browne said it's the first
time in 17 years, so it's just great to be a part of it.

"It was a great game. I couldn't ask for a better game on Thanksgiving
of my senior year. I'm just amazed and ecstatic -- so many emotions at
the same time. It's just an awesome feeling."

The Kimber connection

Fitchburg's Kimber is widely regarded as one of the top quarterbacks
in Central Mass. -- an impressive feat considering how much weight the
Red Raiders place on their ground game.

Carried by the capable legs of Gomez and Fraticelli, Fitchburg hasn't
needed to air the ball out to pile up wins this season. What makes
Kimber so special, however, is that when Fitchburg has needed him,
he's answered the call nearly every time.

Even with a fourth-quarter interception on his record, Kimber played a
fantastic game, throwing two touchdown passes and nearly lifting the
Red Raiders out of a seemingly insurmountable halftime deficit.

After a touchdown pass to Fraticelli brought Fitchburg close in the
third quarter, Kimber came back in the fourth and orchestrated an
incredible desperation drive in the game's closing minutes. With 2:13
left on the clock, Fitchburg somehow traversed 79 yards for the score
to set up the game's thrilling conclusion.

With only 1:14 remaining and still 56 yards to go, Kimber found a
streaking Josh Less down the left sideline with a 42-yard bomb that
caused the crowd to erupt and sent fans streaming onto the track to
get a better look at the action. Not even calls for order from
announcer Fred Sullivan could quell the frenzy.

Soon after, the accurate arm of Kimber again found Less, this time for
a 5-yard touchdown to set up the game's wild finish.

Day of the underdog

After Fitchburg's incredible 9-1 start to the season, not too many
people were betting on the Blue Devils to pull out a victory in
Thursday's contest. In fact, in a poll of five Sentinel & Enterprise
experts, only sports writer Brendan Hall knew enough to go with
Leominster.

"No one believed in us," said Daigneault. "We did it. We stuck
together and did it. No one believed in us, so we believed in
ourselves -- and won."

According to Rivera, the reputation of the talented Fitchburg seniors
had spread so far that there were doubters even inside the walls of
Leominster High School.

"Nobody but the people in blue thought we could make it," he
said. "People in our own school were doubting us ... I just knew that
we could do it."

AWOL Anderson?

In some circles, after the game, there was a lot of talk about how
Fitchburg receiver Orlando Anderson was kept quiet by the Leominster
defense. True, Anderson didn't make much noise in the passing game,
but to say he didn't make a positive impact for the Red Raiders is
simply untrue.

Standing 6-foot-2, the Fitchburg junior is a daunting opponent as a
wideout. When he moves to defense, the strength of that intimidation
factor only grows.

Anderson was all over the field on the defensive end, Thursday, piling
up tackles and making key stops to help stall several Leominster
drives. In the fourth quarter, it was Anderson who recovered an Alex
Medina fumble to give his team favorable field position -- which was
lost soon after on a Fitchburg turnover.

"I thought our defense did a great job in the second half keeping them
out of the end zone, getting us the ball back, creating turnovers,"
said Cosenza.

It was a defensive effort in which Anderson played an important role.

When it matters most

It seemed only fitting that a game that had been so back-and-forth, so
hard-fought, would come down to one final play.

After Less' touchdown catch brought Fitchburg within a single point
with only 46 seconds left, Cosenza's decision to go for two reflected
the grit, determination and excitement that fans of the annual rivalry
game have come expect.

Fitchburg's Kimber dropped back after faking a handoff, but was met in
the backfield by blitzing linebackers Pat O'Connor and Joe
Gannon. Kimber didn't drop to the ground immediately, however, but
instead strained against the defenders, desperately trying to keep his
team alive. But the Blue Devils weren't letting go, and a host of
tacklers soon followed to stuff the two-point attempt.

"We didn't really feel much pressure," said O'Connor, describing the
moments before the ball was snapped. "We just knew that we could stop
them -- we knew we could. We just had to do it."

Fitchburg made one last try with an onside kick. When Leominster
recovered, it took only a couple of kneel-downs to run out the clock
on one of the greatest games in recent memory.

"That's just the way it goes," said Cosenza. "It was a great
game. It's a shame someone has to lose -- and we lost. We had a chance
at them at the end. They made the plays, we didn't."

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