Fitchburg hangs tough with powerhouse St. John's
By Sean Sweeney
Article Launched: 10/25/2008 06:13:15 AM EDT

FITCHBURG -- If defense wins championships, then the St. John's
football team is in prime position for a postseason run.

The Pioneers' defense stopped Fitchburg in the first and second
quarters of Friday night's Division 1 North tilt at Crocker Field,
then held firm with less than two minutes to go to defeat the Red
Raiders, 14-6, at Crocker Field.

The win keeps St. John's undefeated at 7-0, with another tough test
next week in the form of Xaverian. Fitchburg has now dropped its last
three games and is now 4-3 going into next Friday night's contest at
Algonquin Regional.

Late in the fourth quarter and with victory practically assured, the
Pioneers moved the ball swiftly downfield and were looking to get at
least a field goal out of this possession. That extra three points
would have meant Fitchburg needed to get two scores in the last two
minutes of the game to swipe victory away.

Defensively, the Red Raiders were holding firm inside their own
10-yard line and, with Rich Rodgers attempting a 26-yard field goal,
Raider defensive back Quentin Perkins came up with a huge block of the
kick to keep the score manageable.

But FHS, in four-down territory at its own 20, could not move the ball
forward, as Glen Barrett's passes to Orlando Anderson and Perkins were
in and out of the hands of the receivers, sealing the win for the
visitors.

"We had a chance," Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza said. "We got the ball
back and it was a one-possession game. We Advertisement just didn't
get it done."

Following a pair of a punts, St. John's marched 75 yards in nine plays
to open the scoring, as the Pioneers used some great up-the-gut
running by Andrew Dugan and Albert Mitchell to set up Zach Kofos'
15-yard bootleg touchdown run with 2:43 left in the first quarter.

Rodgers' kick made it 7-0, Pioneers.

"They took it to us in the first half," Cosenza said.

Fitchburg responded by bringing the ball all way down to the
St. John's 7, as the Red Raiders mixed up the pass and run, including
a nifty 25-yard bullet pass between Barrett and Perkins to end the
first quarter.

However, the Red Raiders were unable to capitalize: On fourth-and-3,
Barrett's pass to Perkins in the back left-center of the end zone was
caught, but Perkins' foot landed just out of bounds.

The Pioneers then made it a 14-0 series on the ensuing drive, as Kofos
capped off a 14-play, 91-yard drive with a TD plunge from a yard
out. Keying the drive were four 10-plus-yard plays, including a
24-yard quick screen pass from Kofos to 6-foot-5 tight end Rob
Blanchflower, who got the ball to the FHS 6.

Three plays later, St. John's had doubled its lead.

A St. John's three-and-out -- the first of three in the second half --
on its first series of the third quarter set up Fitchburg's only
scoring drive of the game.

Perkins, lined up as the quarterback in the shotgun for the third time
in the game, sprinted in from 33 yards out. On the play, Perkins had
faked the handoff to Greg Mendez before Perkins went up the middle and
cut inside at the 25, not stopping until he hit paydirt.

Mendez was instrumental in keeping the drive going early on, catching
a 13-yard pass from Barrett before Barrett completed a 14-yarder to
Perkins.

"They made some plays. Quentin and Greg, they made some people
missed. We didn't quit," Cosenza said. "We stopped them and moved the
ball. It was a great football game, and I'm proud of our kids. We told
our kids we have to win the second half and we did that. We just
didn't win enough.

"We made some minor adjustments on (defense) they worked."

Defensively, Cosenza praised the play of Joel Gomez, who recorded six
tackles for the Red Raiders, including two on St. John's last drive of
the game.

"He played well. He's a great competitor and he played hard," Cosenza
said.


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