Fitchburg's season ends in heartbreak
By Dean Glanzman
Article Launched: 11/28/2007 10:09:00 AM EST

WORCESTER -- Shrewsbury High's perfect season lives on.

Thanks to a Paul Tizzano 39-yard, game-winning kick, the Colonials
(12-0) defeated Fitchburg High, 24-21, and will move on to the
Central/Western Mass. Division 1A Super Bowl.

"It was definitely the biggest kick of my life," said a breathless
Tizzano. "It was great to help my team win, we worked so hard to get
here this year. We are all so happy. We said we were going to do it as
a family and that's what we did. We worked hard together. The seniors
have great leadership. We're just happy to get it done."

Jawad Yatim (9-for-14, 105 yards in the air) led an 11-play Shrewsbury
drive that began at the team's own 31 and ended when Tizzano's kick
split the uprights with plenty of distance on fourth-and-15 from the
Red Raiders' 23.

The drive spanned more than six minutes and left the Red Raiders
offense only 37 seconds to get downfield and score. After Jeremy
Kimber completed a 39-yard screen pass to Greg Mendez, Fitchburg was
only able to gain 16 more yards before Eric Dion threw a hail mary
prayer toward Kimber that fell to the ground as time expired.

It was Fitchburg's second straight last-minute loss to put an end to
what was a terrific season.

"I'm very proud of our kids," said Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza. "It is
a tough way to end, but our kids played hard and they made a great
field goal and that's the way it goes. They've worked so hard and it's
a tough way to end. These are great
kids, they have great character, they are going to do well."  The Red
Raiders lost in the final moments of a game just five days earlier to
Leominster, 14-13, surrendering their fourth straight Thanksgiving Day
rivalry game to the Blue Devils.

While Shrewsbury's Alvarez (19 carries, 101 yards, 3 TDs) had the
motor going all game, Fitchburg was without its horsepower. Johnny
Gomez (seven carries, 60 yards, TD), after running two plays in the
beginning of the second quarter, left the game because he "heard
something pop," as he said, in his hamstring. However, Mendez (nine
carries, 34 yards, 39 yards receiving) and Byron Teague (2 carries, 12
yards) filled in nicely in Gomez's absence.

"Unbelievable," said Cosenza of how his tailbacks filled in on such
short notice. "Mendez and Teague did a tremendous job. They stepped in
... When Gomez stepped out, we didn't panic. They are both very good
backs, they just haven't had that many carries this year. But I
thought they did a great job."

And though it ended up being the last game of the season for the Red
Raiders, Kimber finally used his head, and legs, rather than force a
throw on the run into coverage. In the beginning of the fourth,
Fitchburg faced a fourth-and-10, down by seven points, on the
Shrewsbury 15-yard line. Kimber dropped back to pass, but couldn't
find any open targets, so he began rolling out to his left and ended
up rushing 11 yards for the first down. He scored two plays later on a
quarterback sneak from 1-yard out.

"He made a nice play," said Cosenza. "He's done that all year for us,
he's done a great job."

You could say Tuesday's game was equivalent of a heavyweight
bout. Both Fitchburg and Shrewsbury slugged it out, literally,
back-and-forth. The game saw two lead changes, three ties and a
postgame brawl at midfield to top it off.

"I'm very disappointed about what happened at the end," said
Cosenza. "I don't know exactly what happened, but that's a shame that
a great game like this had to end like that. I thought we played
hard. I'm really happy with our effort, and again, I am just
disappointed about what happened at the end."

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