Fitchburg powered by 2nd-half surge, Teague's 4 TDs
By Sean Sweeney, Correspondent Posted: 10/17/2009 07:02:25 AM EDT
FITCHBURG -- Oh, to be a fly on the wall of the Fitchburg locker room during halftime Friday night. During the intermission, the Red Raiders led by three points, 12-9, against visiting Burncoat when they should have been up by more: A holding penalty on a possible second-quarter touchdown run nullified a score. Take into account the fact that the Patriots added two second-quarter scores, and the game was closer than it could have been. The second half was a whole different story, as Fitchburg received an all-around improved performance en route to a 33-9 win to cap off Homecoming activities at Crocker Field, highlighted by four touchdowns from Byron Teague. The win snaps Fitchburg's two-game losing streak and improves the team's record to 4-2 with a trip to Shrewsbury slated for Friday night. The Patriots fall to 2-4. Fitchburg head coach Ray Cosenza said his players got a deserved talking-to at the half, and were asked to step up their games. "I told them we weren't focused, (Burncoat) took it to us. And again, I never want to take anything away from them, they did a great job. But I was disappointed in the way we came out, and we have to fix that. We have to play the way we did in the second half all the time," Cosenza said. "We made some plays (in the second half). We started to block the way we should, and I think we wore them down. We just played better in the second half." Teague was the catalyst for Fitchburg, scoring on four touchdown runs -- three of which came in the final 22 minutes -- including 73-yard touchdown run with less than four minutes left. "He picked it up in the second half, too. He's a workhorse, and when (starting quarterback Kyle Phillips) went out, he just kept pumping the ball," Cosenza said of Byron's game, also complimenting the running play of Wesley Colon and Steph'fon Teague. "All of our backs contributed." In addition, the Red Raiders received an excellent second-half performance by their offensive line, especially the play of Joe Fanelli, Tyler Robar and Jamison DiGeronimo, who were credited with huge blocks on all of Teague's second-half TDs. "My linemen were blocking good today," Byron Teague said. "They came out and we've been preparing for this game all week." Not to be outdone, junior quarterback Josue Desir stepped in late in Fitchburg's initial drive of the second half following Phillips' injury and ran the offense without a hitch. "He did a great job and ran the offense," Cosenza said. "We didn't try anything fancy even before Kyle went down. We ran basic stuff and saw what we have." Fitchburg made it 20-6 with 6:40 remaining in the third, as Desir handed off to Byron Teague on fourth-and-9, with the back scoring from 24 yards out. After forcing the Patriots to punt on their initial drive of the third quarter, the Red Raiders hit paydirt with 7:01 left in the game, with Byron Teague sweeping to the left of the offensive line and breaking a shoestring tackle at the 5 before dancing into the end zone. Byron Teague notched the game's first score, a 5-yard run, after Tyrie Osby recovered a Burncoat fumble on the third play of the game. Fitchburg's defense forced a punt on Burncoat's next possession, before the Red Raiders ran off an 87-yard, seven-play drive that saw Wesley Colon fly down the left sideline for the touchdown. Burncoat then got on the board in the second quarter, as Randy Quartey booted a 30-yard field goal, capping off an impressive 12-play, 64-yard drive. "I give those kids credit, they played tough," Cosenza said. "(Jonathan Winbush) ran hard, their quarterback made plays. We had him on what looked to be sacks and he kept breaking it. We told our kids that we didn't play great (in the first half), but you have to give Burncoat credit." Red Raiders 33 Patriots 9 Burncoat (2-4) 0 9 0 0 9 Fitchburg (4-2) 12 0 7 14 33 First quarter F -- Byron Teague 5 run (run failed), 7:59 F -- Wesley Colon 53 run (run failed), 2:10 Second quarter B -- Randy Quartey 30 field goal, 7:53 B -- Quartey 9 pass from Kenny Bates (kick failed), 06 Third quarter F -- Teague 24 run (Teague run), 6:40 Fourth quarter F -- Teague 14 run (run failed), 7:01 F -- Teague 73 run (Tim McNamara kick), 4:03
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