Fitchburg, Leominster shake up standings
By Shauna Staveley
Article Launched: 11/14/2008 09:24:22 AM EST

						
Week 9 of local high school football action featured two teams
scratching and clawing back into playoff contention after consecutive
losses, while the lone undefeated team continued to roll.

Fitchburg stepped up with playoff aspirations on the line, defeating
Wachusett Regional 21-14 on Friday night. With the win, the Red
Raiders improve to 5-4, breaking a four-game losing streak and putting
them right back into the postseason hunt. The Mountaineers, meanwhile,
fall to 7-2.

"It's huge," Red Raiders head coach Ray Cosenza said of the
victory. "Huge coming off of four losses, but to beat such a quality
team, and more importantly it was a league game. It put us at a tie
for the league lead. It comes down to how we do on Thanksgiving in
terms of having the opportunity to play in the postseason."

Greg Mendez highlighted an effective Red Raider offense, trampling
Wachusett en route to 270 rushing yards on 22 carries.

"He's kind of our go-to guy in the backfield," Cosenza said. "He gets
just about the same number of carries every game. We just did a better
job blocking and he did a great job of running."

Mendez also scored two touchdowns -- a 65-yard run in the second
quarter, and a 25-yard rush in the fourth to put Fitchburg ahead for
good.

Quarterback Kyle Phillips scored the other touchdown for Fitchburg on
a 1-yard run.

Defensively, Cosenza said, the Red Raiders came up huge despite
Wachusett getting ideal field position multiple times in the game.

"I think the defense played great, especially in the first half with
our offense struggling," Cosenza said. "They kept giving up poor field
position (to Wachusett), but the defense rose to the occasion many
times in the first half and kept them out of the end zone. The second
half they played well enough to hold on for our team to win."

Before Fitchburg worries about Thanksgiving against Leominster,
Cosenza said the Red Raiders need to worry about its next opponent.

"Right now we're worried about Marlborough, that's our next
challenge," Cosenza said. "We won't begin worrying or thinking about
Thanksgiving until the game against Marlborough is over."

The Red Raiders host Marlborough, tonight at 7 p.m.

* Leominster (5-4) shook up the Div. 1 North standings with a shocking
20-13 win against previously undefeated St. John's (8-1), in
Shrewsbury, on Saturday.

Fresh off a three-game losing streak, the Leominster defensive unit
played a major role in the upset of the division rival Pioneers.

St. John's had a chance to tie it with 2:42 remaining in the game, but
Jared Wilbon intercepted a pass by Zachary Kofos to preserve the Blue
Devil victory.

Leominster also put the brakes on a St. John's scoring attempt in the
second quarter, breaking down a fake field goal attempt following a
15-play drive.

The Blue Devil offense, meanwhile, was very productive. Wilbon had a
hand in that as well, scoring on a 17-yard pass from Patrick O'Connor
in the second quarter, and another pass from O'Connor, this time from
19-yards out, in the fourth.

Michael Pedreira scored the first Blue Devil touchdown on a 1-yard run
in the first quarter.

Leominster takes on Milford, at 7 p.m., today.

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