Fitchburg's fortunes ride on the 
play of its talented, veteran
offensive line
By Eric Avidon

FITCHBURG -- Offensive linemen don't get the glory. They don't get to
run the ball, or catch or throw it, and they don't get to score
touchdowns.

But without the work they do no one could run the ball, or catch or
throw it, and no one could score touchdowns. So when a running back
gets in the end zone behind their blocks, or a quarterback hits a
receiver for a touchdown pass, the offensive linemen celebrate like
they were the ones who crossed the goal line.

This season, Fitchburg High junior running back William Earley has run
for 2,299 yards and scored 34 touchdowns. He's as good a running back
as there is in Massachusetts, but a tremendous amount of the credit
for his performance belongs to the five players on the Fitchburg
offensive line.

This season Fitchburg beat rival Leominster for the sixth consecutive
year and this Saturday will play Longmeadow in the Super Bowl.

A tremendous amount of the credit for the performance of the team both
on Thanksgiving Day and all season long belongs to sophomore left
tackle Logan Johnson, senior left guard Joe Golden, junior center
Anthony Murray, senior right guard Brad McNamara and junior right
tackle Austin Douglas.

"(The best feeling) is when they score a touchdown," said Golden. "You
know you made it so that they got there. When you see them go past you
it's a great feeling. It's like we scored the touchdown ourselves."

The five players on the Fitchburg offensive line have felt like they
got in the end zone a lot this year, a testament to the job they've
done blocking for running backs William Earley and Eldred Wright and
quarterback Raymond Earley.

"I think they have been outstanding," said Fitchburg coach Ray
Cosenza. "I think they have clearly gotten better. We struggled
early. We have a couple of first-years starters, a sophomore, but
every game they've gotten better to the point where I think they have
become the strength of our team. When we've won, and we've played
well, our offensive line has dominated."

Similarly, McNamara, a co-captain, said he thinks the offensive line
has "done really good (this year). We stepped up to the challenge and
played without two key seniors from last year and just got the job
done."

The statistical evidence for the job the offensive line has done
throughout the season is there in black and white in William Earley's
numbers. In addition to the total yardage and touchdowns, the junior
running back is averaging nearly 10 yards per carry.

"We take pride (in Earley's numbers)," said McNamara. "William has
always carried it and given us the credit for making the holes."

"He knows that without us he has nowhere to go," added Golden.

The coach knows it, too.

"The credit goes to the whole offense," Cosenza said. "The line has
played great, and the good thing is that William is the first to point
that out. But I don't care who you're running against and how good a
back you are, you need people to open those holes, and they've done a
good job of that. And then you have to add his success to the
receivers blocking downfield and his running partner Eldred Wright has
been a great blocker all year.

"It's a tribute to our whole offense. His success goes to everyone."

If there was one game when the offensive line played its best, it was
Thanksgiving Day against favored Leominster on the road at Doyle
Field. Fitchburg gained every one of its 326 yards on the ground,
behind the blocks of Johnson, Golden, Murray, McNamara and Douglas.

"We've had some games where they have just totally dominated, but I
think against such a very good defensive team as Leominster they just
ground it out," said Cosenza. "William broke two long runs and those
were great efforts by him and the line, but other than that we got
four or five yards and really ground it out against a pretty good
defense."

Golden and McNamara likewise picked the game against Leominster as the
offensive line's best performance of the season.

But while Fitchburg won eight games, beat its rival and is headed to
the Division 1 Central/Western Mass. Super Bowl, the Red Raiders did
lose three games during the season. One came against Brockton in a
game William Earley missed because of disciplinary reasons, but the
others came against Xaverian and St. John's when Fitchburg was at full
strength, two games the players said the line didn't play as well as
it should have.

"I think we were slow. I think we just reacted slowly," Cosenza said
of the game against St. John's. "I think we struggled with their size
and their quickness. It wasn't just the offensive line. In total we
were like that offensively. That was not a good game for that unit,
but the type of kids they are, they responded by coming back and
having a great game on Thanksgiving."

If there is one aspect of the line as a unit that sticks out it's the
strength of the five players, their ability to push the defensive
front around and open holes for Wright and the Earley brothers even
though the defense knows exactly what is coming.

"(Our greatest strength is) pushing people around. We just love doing
that," said Golden.

Cosenza similarly credits the power of the offensive line as one of
its greatest assets, but also pointed out the group's understanding of
Fitchburg's offensive goals as a strength.

"They understand what our concept is, what we're trying to do when we
line up and what our blocking scheme is," he said. "Coach (Chris)
Canning gets a majority of the credit for that. They understand what
some might think is a sophisticated blocking scheme but really isn't
because the kids understand it. They've also worked hard in the weight
room and are strong. They've really come together as a unit."

The Fitchburg offensive line will have its hands full this coming
Saturday when Fitchburg travels to Springfield College to take on
Longmeadow in the Central/Western Mass. Super Bowl. Longmeadow is big
up front, and Johnson, Golden, Murray, McNamara and Douglas will have
to move that size around to create holes for the Fitchburg backs.

"They're just some big kids," said McNamara. "They get off the ball
fast."

"We just have to get off the ball quicker than they do," added
Golden. "I think we have the strength to move them around, but we just
have to get off the ball."

The size of Longmeadow's defensive front is also a concern for
Cosenza, who echoed the sentiments of Golden and McNamara and said
that the way Fitchburg's offensive line handles the Longmeadow
defensive front will go a long way toward telling which team wins the
Super Bowl.

"The first concern is their size. They're very big," he said. "At
times we've struggled with bigger people because I don't think we're
huge, so we have to be prepared for that. Their line doesn't run
great, but the people behind them do, so we have to neutralize them up
front and get to the second level (of defenders).

"I think we have to control the ball, keep our offense on the field
and keep their speed on offense off the field."

If the offensive line can play the way it has all season long, and
particularly on Thanksgiving Day against a strong Leominster defense,
Fitchburg has a good chance of executing its game plan, eating up time
of possession with its running game and keeping Longmeadow on
defense. Simply, though it won't get the glory, if the offensive line
plays well Fitchburg will most likely be Super Bowl champions.

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