Leominster stuns St. John's
By Chuck Sargent
Article Launched: 11/09/2008 06:08:39 AM EST


SHREWSBURY -- Leominster sent a message to the rest of Central
Mass. on Saturday: The Blue Devils are back.

Mired in a three-game losing streak that saw it drop to 4-4 on the
season, some had written off the Leominster football team as
postseason contenders and did not give them a chance against unbeaten
St. John's, who looked to clinch a playoff berth with a win Saturday
afternoon.

But the Blue Devils had other plans and crashed the Pioneers'
coronation, beating them 20-13 at Pioneer Field on Senior Day. In the
process, Leominster turned the Division 1 North standings upside down,
as each team now has identical 1-1 records.

"We're very pleased," Leominster coach John Dubzinski said. "They're a
great team and we're thrilled to death to get the win.

"Nobody gave us much of a chance to win, so this is what you call the
old upset special."

It was the Blue Devils who struck first in the second quarter. After
the Leominster defense stopped St. John's on a fake field goal, which
ended a 15-play drive, the Blue Devils took over at their own 15-yard
line.

Four plays later, the Blue Devils got the big play they were looking
for when O'Connor connected with wide receiver Brett Storro up the
middle for a 46-yard gain. A personal foul against St. John's on the
play got the ball down to the 14-yard line. Six plays later, fullback
Mike Pedreira plowed into the end zone from a yard out. Demitri
Albizu's extra-point made it 7-0 with 6:18 to go in the Advertisement
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After the teams swapped punts, the Pioneers took over at the
Leominster 28-yard line with 2:04 to go. From there, St. John's got
the ball down to the 6-yard line thanks to a well-executed hook and
lateral play. Two plays later, quarterback Zachary Kofos ran it in
from 5 yards out. Richard Rodgers' extra point tied things up with
1:16 left in the half.

David Arsenault returned the ensuing kickoff out to the 40-yard line
for Leominster. O'Connor then hit wide receiver Jared Wilbon with a
screen pass for a 24-yard gain. Five plays later, O'Connor connected
with Wilbon in the back right corner of the end zone with just seven
seconds left in the half to make it 13-7.

The Pioneers tied it up in the third quarter when Kofos hit tight end
Rob Blanchflower from 5 yards out, capping an eight-play, 58-yard
drive to begin the second half.

On the final play of the quarter, the Blue Devil defense stopped
St. John's on fourth down at the Leominster 45-yard line. Five plays
later, O'Connor again connected with Wilbon, who ran a fade route and
made a diving catch in the end zone. Albizu's extra point put
Leominster on top 20-13.

St. John's had a chance to tie the game up, driving down to the
Leominster 38-yard line late in the game. But with 2:42 remaining,
Wilbon put the icing on a career day by intercepting a pass from Kofos
to put the game away.

O'Connor finished the game completing 11 of 16 passes for 162
yards. The senior signal caller also ran the ball nine times for 41
yards.

"They might be the best team we've played all year," O'Connor
said. "They're a great team. We just played our hearts out and went
all out on every single play. We didn't take one play off. Some things
didn't go our way, but we just kept plugging and it feels great."

Along with Wilbon, the Blue Devils also got solid defensive
performances from O'Connor, Pedreira, Geno Gasbarro and Corey
Mastrapasqua.

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