No. 1 St. John’s stops Red Raiders
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Top notch HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

By Jim Wilson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
jimwilson@telegram.com

FITCHBURG -  Another test, another win for St. John’s High.

Senior quarterback Zak Kofos rushed for two first-half touchdowns and
the defense did the rest as the top-ranked Pioneers hung on for a 14-6
win over No. 8 Fitchburg High last night in a Division 1 North game at
Crocker Field.

Kofos, making his second start in place of injured starter Griffin
Murphy, gained 64 yards on 11 carries and completed three passes for
40 yards. St. John's also got big contributions on the ground from
Albert Mitchell (10 carries, 76 yards) and Andrew Dugan (nine carries,
33 yards) as the Pioneers’ possession game got them the victory.


"We all have faith in each other," Dugan said. "Zak played a
hell of a game tonight and our defense came together when they had to,
especially after they threw some (formations) at us we haven't seen
before. We made some halftime adjustments and came out and played, and
our offense kept on churning away."

St. John’s (7-0, 1-0) may not be as flashy on offense without
Murphy slinging the ball, but Kofos has proven he can keep the
Pioneers rolling, engineering wins over St. John's Prep and now the
Red Raiders.

"We're all big believers that you have to be able to run the
football, but we're able to throw possession passes and get our
offense in a position where it can be a quick type of offense that
complements the possession passes well," St. John’s coach John
Andreoli said. “Zak did a nice job of ball possession, ball
security, and working the clock. It went right down to the wire —
that's the way it goes up here."

Trailing, 14-0, in the third quarter, Fitchburg (4-3, 0-1) started to
surge with just under three minutes left when sophomore standout
Quinton Perkins took a direct snap up the middle for a 33-yard
touchdown. A botched snap and Colin O’Rourke’s block on the
extra-point attempt left the score 14-6.

Perkins gave the Red Raiders a chance to tie it with 1:57 left when he
blocked a 27-yard field-goal attempt by Richard Rodgers. However, the
St. John's defense held, with O'Rourke knocking down a
fourth-down pass to seal the victory.

"We told our kids we had to win the second half, and we did that
but we just didn't win by enough,' Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza
said. "We showed some real character and it was a lot different
than last week, so I'm proud of our kids' effort."

Kofos capped a nine-play drive on St. John’s second possession of
the game, bootlegging to his left and scampering into the end zone
from 15 yards out. Rodgers’ kick made it 7-0.

Fitchburg nearly tied the game on its next possession, driving to the
Pioneers' 8-yard line, but Glen Barrett’s fourth-down pass to
Perkins was caught out of the back of the end zone and St. John’s
took over on downs. The Pioneers responded with a 14-play drive that
culminated in a 1-yard TD on a quarterback sneak by Kofos to make it
14-0.

"We didn't quit, we came out in the second half and stopped
them," Cosenza said. "We moved the ball, we just didn’t get
it. It was a great football game and I'm proud of our
kids. Everyone hates to lose, but this was a great high school
football game."

Perkins finished with 46 yards rushing on seven carries, while Barrett
completed 8 of 12 passes for 85 yards, six of them to Perkins for 51
yards.

"We have had great practices and I think the thing we were ready
for was a physical game for 45 minutes, which is exactly what we
got," Andreoli said. "(Fitchburg) did a lot of things that
weren’t the usual things you see Fitchburg do and give them credit
because they executed very well."

Andreoli said St. John's was lucky to have experience against other
offenses running similar plays in order to stop the Red Raiders, an
experience that will come in handy next Saturday when the Pioneers
host Eastern Mass. power Xaverian (4-2).

"I credit our preparation of our kids and our scout team and being
able to make changes on the fly with our coaching staff and in-game
adjustments that gave us the ability to react to the things they were
doing," Andreoli said. "They were very well prepared for this
game."

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