Blue Devils fall for Fitchburg's 'trap'
Friday November 26, 1999
By Kevin O'Malley
Sports Editor 
LEOMINSTER -- Perfect.

Webster defines it as complete in all respects; without
defect or omission; sound; flawless.

Thursday morning at Doyle Field, the Fitchburg Red Raiders'
quarterback trap was perfect.

Junior quarterback Jason Twomley used the play almost
exclusively to gain over 200 yards on just 18 carries and
score two touchdowns in the Red Raiders' series tiebreaking,
38-21 win over the Leominster Blue Devils.

When the Fitchburg coaching staff finally sat down for
Thanksgiving dinner, you can be certain one thing they were
thankful for was remembering to put the play back into the
team's offensive repertoire.

"We ran that five years ago, we did it with Todd Steffanides
and with Mike Beaulac," explained Fitchburg head coach Ray
Cosenza following the win. "It's something we've kind of
toyed with in the past, never with great success. But it was
perfect for today "

Having had very little success with the play in past years,
the Red Raiders actually eliminated it from their playbook,
preferring pitches and runs outside the tackles.

But before facing the Blue Devils, the trap came back.

And what a trap it was.

Capitalizing on the aggressive nature of the Leominster
defense, the play worked perfectly nearly every time
Fitchburg called it, including the first.

Twomley took the third snap of the game, and, after faking a
handoff to Norman Cole, went 63-yards for his first score.

"We put the play in this week, because they are so
aggressive on defense, and Jason Twomley just ran it to
perfection," explained Cosenza. "Our offensive line did a
great job with it, they were really the difference."

And what a difference they were, dominating the line of
scrimmage, holding their blocks and sticking to the scheme.

Center Tim Caron, guards Marcus DiNatale and Josh Cordio and
tackles Derek Johnson and Anthony Fanelli all played
outstanding in the trenches -- a fact not lost on either the
Fitchburg coaching staff or Twomley.

"The trap can't work unless the guys in the middle are
working," explained Twomley. "The set-up was just great."

"I don't know how many times we punted, but whenever we
needed a first down, they got it for us," added Cosenza.

Fitchburg used the play again on its second drive, gaining
20-yards to set up Norman Cole's two-yard touchdown.

"They surprised us early with that play because they hadn't
run it a lot during the year," added Leominster coach John
Dubzinski. "Jason Twomley really had a great game, he made
some great cutbacks."

As Leominster improved its defense of the play, other
offensive options opened up for Fitchburg.

On Fitchburg's final march of the first half, Twomley called
the quarterback trap several times, never gaining many
yards, but setting the Blue Devil defense up for
back-to-back big gains by Jason Quinn.

The play remained effective after halftime as Fitchburg used
the play less, but kept the Blue Devil defense guessing and
honest.

Fittingly, the play sealed Leominster's coffin as Twomley
scored his second touchdown on the Raiders' first drive in
the second half, finding the end zone from 45-yards out.

"I can't say enough about what we accomplished offensively;
we distributed the ball very well, we went inside, outside,"
continued Cosenza. "Our running game was really the
difference."

Leominster coach John Dubzinski agreed that the Red Raiders
running game played a major role in determining the outcome
of the contest.

"The difference of the game was that our defense never
really stopped them ...," added Dubzinski. "Overall, we just
didn't stop them on defense. Give credit to Fitchburg, they
did a great job on offense and they certainly deserve to
win."

"I thought we did a nice job on offense, we moved the ball
very well. We just didn't get the ball enough times because
they controlled the clock a little bit, and they always had
that two touchdown cushion on us," added Dubzinski.

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