Gardner's Craft runs wild against Fitchburg
By Sean Sweeney, Correspondent Posted: 11/14/2009 06:33:03 AM EST
FITCHBURG -- It's a simple fact: If you don't have the football, you can't score. On Friday night at Crocker Field, that fact was brought into light as Gardner's offense kept Fitchburg off the field enough to keep the Red Raiders quiet after a rousing start. Then the Wildcats let their offense do the job, scoring 24 unanswered points en route to a shocking 24-14 win over the Red Raiders in the 105th meeting between the two rivals. The huge win improves GHS to 4-6 overall, while Fitchburg drops to 5-5. Up next for the two schools are the annual Thanksgiving Day games, with the Wildcats heading to Ashburnham to play Oakmont Regional, while Fitchburg entertains Leominster. "It's a great win for us," said Gardner head coach Walt Dubzinski Jr. "Any time you can beat Fitchburg on Crocker Field it's a great win. Our kids did a great job; we fell behind on a couple of great plays by them, but we stayed at it." The Red Raiders jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to a 63-yard TD run by Steph'fon Teague, before Tevin Moore ran back an 83-yard interception of GHS quarterback Steve Guercio on the Wildcats' next series. All of that occurred in just under 90 seconds in the first quarter. But from there, it was all Gardner on both sides of the ball. Jamison Craft was the big hero for the Wildcats, as the sophomore rushed for 242 yards on 38 carries. Craft, along with backfield mates Julon McCoy and Cole Dembek, was able to grind the clock down at 4, 5 and 6 yards at a clip, gaining first downs with regularity against the FHS defense. "He's getting better every game," Dubzinski said. "He's a sophomore, and he's done a nice job for us. He doesn't knock people over, but he slithers and slips and he slides and then he made the big one. We blocked well up front for him." "It was all the line," Craft said. "(Fitchburg's) defense was expecting the pass because of what Steve has done all year long. They didn't expect the run." Following the interception return, Gardner responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that went run exclusive, as Craft plowed it in from 4 yards out. Included in the drive was a 20-yard carry by Craft that had a 15-yard facemask penalty on the Red Raiders attached to it, before Gardner mixed in good running plays with McCoy and Dembek to get deep inside Fitchburg territory. "We couldn't stop them," Fitchburg head coach Ray Cosenza said. "They handled us, and we couldn't stop them. We couldn't get them off the field, their offense did a great job; and physically, they took it to us. They played great, and they deserved to win today." After holding Fitchburg on its next possession and then recovering a fumble on the following FHS possession after that, Gardner was able to run the clock down with a couple of 10-yard runs by Craft and McCoy before a pair of Guercio passes fell incomplete. Gardner kicker Brian Connors, who added the PAT on the Craft TD, then kicked a 35-yard field goal, cutting the Gardner deficit to four, 14-10. Fitchburg's offense was only on the field for 5:35 in the first half, and did not sustain a long drive until the opening of the fourth quarter. "Our defense has been maligned because we've given up some points, but we're not to be maligned any longer," Dubzinski said. "They probably opened some eyes tonight." Gardner took command with 59 seconds left in the third, as the Wildcats recovered a Fitchburg fourth-down fumble before marching 55 yards for the go-ahead score. Guercio connected with Andy Doiron in the end zone, as the senior out-jumped the Raider defensive back to haul in the 29-yard scoring strike to cap the drive. Fitchburg then had an extensive drive that included runs of 15 and 22 yards by Tyrie Osby (17 carries, 119 yards), but could not punch it in. On fourth-and-6 from the Gardner 13, Phillips tried to find Eric Comeau in the end zone, but the pass bounced out of his hands, giving the ball over to the Wildcats. Craft then wrapped up the scoring three plays later, as he went off the left end and galloped 80 yards, evading a tackle at the Fitchburg 15 and high-stepping it into the end zone for the TD. Wildcats 24 Red Raiders 14 Gardner (4-6) 0 10 7 7 -- 24 Fitchburg (5-5) 14 0 0 0 -- 14 First quarter F -- Steph'fon Teague 63 run (kick blocked), 3:13 F -- Tevin Moore 83 interception return (Wesley Colon pass from Kyle Phillips), 1:47 Second quarter G -- Jamison Craft 4 run (Brian Connors kick), 7:51 G -- Connors 35 field goal, :28 Third quarter G -- Andy Doiron 29 pass from Steve Guercio (Connors kick), 0:59 Fourth quarter G -- Craft 80 run (Connors kick), 5:51
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