FHS back on top
By Dean Glanzman Article Launched: 10/13/2007 10:11:12 AM EDT
FITCHBURG -- The turning point in Fitchburg's 26-6 win over Milford, Friday night at Crocker Field, was a turnover. With 5:29 left in the game, and Fitchburg (5-1) holding on to a one-score lead, Scarlet Hawks quarterback Brendan Casey attempted a backward pass that was dropped and picked up by the Red Raiders' Greg Mendez, who returned it 27 yards for a decisive touchdown. "That was huge, because they had stopped us on the 5 and just got a first down," said Fitchburg head coach Ray Cosenza. "Only up by a score, for Greg to scoop that ball up and score was huge." With Mendez's heads-up play, the Red Raiders tacked on seven points to their lead -- thanks to a Luke Arno extra point -- and held a 14-point advantage. "That was a key score," said Cosenza. The Mendez touchdown came just after Milford stopped the Red Raiders on a fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line. After a quick three-and-out by the Scarlet Hawks, Johnny Gomez (18 carries, 205 yards, 2 TDs) reached the end zone for the second time in the game on an 8-yard run to put the exclamation point on a must-win game for a Fitchburg team that was shut out by Brockton a week earlier. "We got beat up a little last week and some people would lose confidence, but we found some positives out of last week's game," said Cosenza. "We had a slow start, but we beat a very good team tonight." Milford (3-3) entered Friday night's game winning three straight after losing its first two games of the season to Franklin and Bellingham, and came out strong. The Scarlet Hawks displayed an array of packages equipped with all kinds of personnel in the game's first drive, and after 17 plays at 8:36, had six points to show for it. Captain Tom Kane (19 carries, 64 yards) capped off the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run to give Milford an early 6-0 lead. After the Red Raiders fumbled on their third play of the game, the Scarlet Hawks continued right where they left off. But a Kane fumble put the ball right back into Fitchburg's hands and the Red Raiders wasted no time capitalizing. Jeremy Kimber (9-for-15, 132 yards) threw a jump ball to Orlando Anderson in the back-left corner of the end zone. After a missed extra point by Luke Arno, the game was knotted at 6-6. The Scarlet Hawks mounted 122 yards in the first half. In the second half, they had only 20. The credit belonged to the Red Raiders' defense. "They might have answered a few things defensively that we were trying to do," said Milford head coach John Dagnese. "I give them credit, they played great defense in the second half." After experimenting in last week's game against Brockton and in this week's practices, Cosenza decided to play Kimber and Anderson on defense against Milford. By playing his quarterback and wide receiver/kick returner on defense, Cosenza added more athleticism and speed to a unit that came back to life against the Scarlet Hawks in the second half of Friday night's game. "We've been doing that all year in practice," said Cosenza, "and last week we started putting them in more. We have to get our best athletes on the field. They're great cover guys, they allow us to do things inside ... because we can always count on them to be great cover people." Anderson forced and recovered Kane's fumble that led to his 12-yard touchdown reception four plays later in the first quarter. Kimber made a nice stick on a Scarlet Hawks' receiver, late in the game, to deny him a first down in a third-and-long situation. The Red Raiders' caught a break with Casey's ill-advised backward pass, but it was Cosenza's gutsy and gritty play-calling all game that kept Fitchburg's wheels moving. On fourth-and-inches on Fitchburg's own 24-yard line, Cosenza decided to go for it. Kimber ran a quarterback keeper straight up the gut for a 1-yard gain and a first down. Cosenza's gamble led to Gomez's first score of the game-- a 55-yard trek into the end zone, followed by an Arno kick -- to give the Red Raiders a 13-6 lead, early in the second half.
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