Fitchburg comes up short in Super Bowl
By Shauna Staveley
Posted: 12/08/2008 06:06:13 AM EST

WORCESTER -- The Longmeadow football team lost one game out of 48
going into the Central Mass. / Western Mass. Division 1 Super Bowl
against Fitchburg.

The Red Raiders weren't fazed in the least.

Despite a two-headed monster rushing attack of Alex Scyocurka and Niko
Sierra scoring a combined five touchdowns on 45 carries for 372 yards
for the Lancers, Fitchburg had multiple chances to tie the game or
take a lead. Longmeadow capitalized on missed Fitchburg opportunities,
dominating ball possession in a 35-21 loss on Sunday, at John
F. Coughlin Field of Worcester State College.

"Our team is holding our heads high," senior defensive lineman and
offensive lineman Ryan Robar said. "We've got nothing to be ashamed
of. It's all we could do. We did what we could."

The game breaking play came with the 8-5 Red Raiders trailing 12-1
Longmeadow, 21-13, on a second-and-16 play for the Red Raiders at the
Lancer 39-yard-line, with just seconds left in the third quarter.

Sophomore quarterback Kyle Phillips (7-for-19, 134 yards ) dropped
back to pass, rolled out of the pocket to the right side and threw a
high arcing pass to sophomore wide receiver Quinton Perkins at the
Lancer goal line with two defenders covering him.

Senior Longmeadow defensive back Kyle Smith came down with the
interception, but confusion ensued.

Not hearing a whistle blow by the referees, which stops play, Perkins
made a smart hustle play by chasing down Smith and stripping him a few
yards outside the end zone.

A Red Raider picked up the fumble and ran the ball in for what
Fitchburg thought was a touchdown.

However, referees eventually signaled for a touchback, meaning they
ruled Smith was down in the end zone on the interception.

"I don't think the score is really indicative of how the game was,"
Fitchburg head coach Ray Cosenza said. "But, hey, that's the way it
is. They made some plays when they had to and we didn't, but our kids
played hard and I am proud of their effort."

Longmeadow followed the turnover with an effective nine play, 80 yard
drive that ate up the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.

The drive culminated with an 11-yard touchdown run up the middle by
Sierra (146 yards, 3 touchdowns, 18 carries) to make it 27-13.

The double-digit deficit forced the Red Raiders away from its
bread-and-butter run game on the ensuing possession in order to keep
the clock stopped as much as possible.

Longmeadow put on the pressure, stopping senior running back Greg
Mendez after a 4-yard gain on first down, nearly picking off a
Phillips pass on second down, and forcing an incompletion on third
down.

The Lancers blitzed cornerbacks from both sides on fourth-and-6 at the
Red Raider 34-yard line, sacking Phillips in the backfield for a
turnover on downs.

"Things happen," Phillips said. "Turnovers, penalties - you can't
always win every game."

The Lancers took advantage of ideal field position, putting the ball
in Scyocurka's hands on four plays out of six.

He eventually scored from six yards out with 2:42 remaining, making it
33-13, by lowering his shoulder and bulldozing through the left side
of the defense.

It was Syocurka's second touchdown of the day, putting an exclamation
point on a 27 carry, 226 yard and two touchdown day.

The 5-foot-11, 205 senior and 6-foot-3, 215 pound Sierra played
outstanding together, thriving in a double-wing formation that kept
the Red Raiders guessing on who would get the handoff on any given
play.

"They're both very good," Cosenza said. "They were obviously the
difference, those two guys. But we knew that coming in, we knew we'd
have to try and contain them, but they made the plays when they had
to."

Mendez played just as well for the Red Raiders by keeping his feet
moving on attempted tackles, making quick, sharp cuts and exploding
through blocking holes with great speed.

He ran for 180 yards on 22 carries, including a 46-yard romp with 38
seconds left in the game.

Mendez should have been tackled in the backfield for about a six yard
loss, but he kept his balance, broke a tackle and simply outran the
Lancer defense up the left sideline for the score.

A two-point conversion made it 35-21.

"We've got to protect our boy," Robar said of Mendez and the Red
Raider blocking. "He takes care of us, we take care of him."

Also effective were Fitchburg receivers Perkins and senior Orlando
Anderson. Phillips exploited the Lancer secondary all game long on
deep passes to both of them, with several turning into touchdowns or
huge gains.

Perkins scored on a 48-yard pass from Phillips with 8:29 in the second
quarter, making an uncontested catch due to Lancer cornerback Smith
falling down, then breaking tackle after tackle and eventually
crossing the goal-line to make it 14-6.

"Good fakes in the backfield, wide receivers running hard and getting
open, it makes it a lot easier to throw the ball to (them)," Phillips
said. "But, sometimes they don't always catch it."

Anderson had a crucial six point opportunity on first-and-10, with
6:36 remaining in the third quarter and the score 21-13, when he
burned the Lancer secondary on a deep route and had nobody near him to
prevent a catch or touchdown.

Phillips, at the Fitchburg 32-yard-line, threw a perfect spiral to
Anderson deep in Lancer territory, but the ball slipped out of his
hands for a rare drop.

Anderson and Perkins also beat the defense multiple times in the first
half, but Phillips couldn't make the connection for easy scores due to
slightly overthrown passes.

Fitchburg trailed 14-13 at halftime.

Robar and senior linebacker Eric Dion had two key fumble recoveries
for the Red Raiders when the Lancers threatened to score in or near
the red zone. Those recoveries kept Fitchburg in the game.

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