Devils tie up Boxers
By Glen Farley Correspondent
BROCKTON -- In the end, it was a "Catch-22" situation for
both teams.

"We always play the tiebreaker," Leominster High football
coach John Dubzinski said following Friday night's 22-22 tie
with Brockton at Marciano Stadium, "but we agreed to this."

After seeing a 68-yard pass from quarterback Dustin Leonard
to wide receiver John Mendes to the Leominster 7-yard line
with 1:09 remaining negated by a holding penalty, Brockton
interim head coach Peter Colombo wasn't satisfied with the
tie, either.

"Not really," Colombo said. "We knew we had time to get in
position, and we felt we could do it. We did it, but five
holding calls (in the game) to one."

The Blue Devils, who haven't won in Brockton since 1983 and
haven't beaten the Boxers since 1988, salvaged the tie when
junior running back Anthony Bizzotto (16 carries for 124
yards and three touchdowns) scored on a 1-yard TD run with
1:46 remaining and Adam Cordio rushed for the conversion.

The tie extended Leominster's unbeaten streak to seven games
following a season-opening loss to Everett and left the Blue
Devils at 6-1-1 on the year.

"I told my kids I'm proud of the way they played. This is a
tough place to play and a tough team to play against," said
Dubzinski. "Both teams made critical mistakes, but both
teams kept coming back."

The tie left Brockton with a record of 4-3-1.

"It was a great high school football game between two
outstanding teams," said Colombo. "They're going to be in
the hunt for their Super Bowl, and we're in the hunt for
ours."

Leominster's first possession of the night resulted in a
14-point swing in Brockton's favor as the Blue Devils drove
49 yards in eight plays to the Boxers' 13 and appeared to be
going in for a score, only to turn the ball over on a fumble
senior linebacker Sam Blevines scooped up and returned 81
yards the other way for a touchdown. Sophomore place-kicker
Paul Branco tacked on the extra point, giving Brockton a 7-0
lead with 4:04 to play in the first quarter.

The Blue Devils capitalized on senior John Ciccone's
recovery of a Boxers fumble to get on the scoreboard in the
second quarter, driving 30 yards in five plays for a
touchdown. Breaking tackles, Anthony Bizzotto banged in from
the 11 for the touchdown. Cordio rushed for the conversion,
putting Leominster in front, 8-7, with 4:53 left in the
half.

After a Brockton touchdown gave the Boxers a 15-8 lead
heading into halftime, mistakes continued to play a major
role in the game in the third quarter as a fumble recovery
by Bizzotto gave Leominster the ball on the Brockton 36, but
a holding penalty nullified a 26-yard run by Cordio to the 4
and put the Blue Devils in a third-and-17 hole they couldn't
convert.

An exchange of punts gave the Blue Devils the ball back at
the Brockton 36. This time, Leominster capitalized with
Bizzotto finishing the drive with a dive over the top from
the one in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Junior
Marcus Wells came up to deny the rush for the conversion,
leaving the Boxers clinging to a 15-14 lead.

The Boxers responded with a 10-play, 84-yard drive that
culminated with Blevines going in on fourth-and-goal from
the 1 with 4:44 remaining and Branco adding the PAT to go
ahead 22-14, setting the stage for Leominster's tying drive.

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