Cordio picks up the pieces
By Chad Garner 
cgarner@sentinelandenterprise.com

LEOMINSTER -- Adam Cordio was desperate to redeem himself.

With Leominster trailing 14-12 to begin the second half
Cordio, Leominster High's junior speed back, coughed up the
pigskin on back-to-back possessions -- the second on the
St. John's 7 -- in the third quarter.

But Cordio refused to let the two fumbles get him down.

Instead, Cordio gladly took the rock on all four Leominster
offensive plays in the game-winning fourth quarter drive. He
capped off a 62-yard march with a 34-yard TD run on an
option, and added a late 3-yard TD run to spoil St. John's
of Shrewsbury's Division 1 upset bid, 26-14, Friday night at
Doyle Field.

"I was pretty down," admitted Cordio who carried 17 times
for 145 yards and scored two rushing TDs, and added an
82-yard kickoff return for a TD to open the game. "The line
just stuck in there and they said that they'd keep trying. I
told them I'd get it back to them. This was huge, it was a
huge win."

Down at the half, Leominster (7-1-1, 5-0) regained the
momentum when Ryan Rendon recovered a fumble at the Pioneer
46, but Cordio gave the ball back three plays later at the
37.

The Leominster defense held on a 10-play drive, and the
offense went to work without star fullback Anthony Bizzotto
who didn't play the entire second half due to an undisclosed
hip injury.

Quarterback Chris Swart (4 of 8 passing, 63 yards) softened
up St. John's (4-4, 2-3) strong run defense with three
straight pass plays. He hit tight end Tim DiLillo twice for
25 yards and connected with Steven Shaw over the middle for
24.

But two plays later, Cordio was rocked at the 7 and
St. John's Ryan Champlin recovered.

St. John's, who outgained Leominster 247-243, was forced to
punt on a three-and-out series, and Cordio immediately
elevated his game.

With a steady grasp on the football, Cordio carried three
times for 28 yards down to the Pioneer 34. On second down,
Swart made a textbook option pitch to Cordio who busted off
the right end and raced 34 yards for the go-ahead TD.

With Leominster leading 18-14 with 7:50 left in the game,
St. John's decided to go for it on fourth-and-seven from the
Pioneer 33. But quarterback Eric Dickson was dropped for a
five-yard sack by Matt Aikey with 5:32 left.

"We were very tired on defense and they were explosive,"
said St. John's coach Tony Woods. "I didn't think we could
stop them again if they got the ball so I'd rather gamble on
the offensive side."

Tom Fallon's 14-yard run down to the three set up Cordio's
TD jaunt off right tackle for the 26-14 victory.

"We knew coming in that they had three losses and it was a
do-or-die for them in regards to their season," said
Leominster coach John Dubzinski. "I think we wore them down
a little bit in the fourth quarter. We played a lot better
in the second half, there's no question about it."

Leominster got on the scoreboard first to open the game as
Cordio fielded the kickoff at the 18 and raced 82 yards for
the opening score.

But St. John's responded on a 14-play, 75-yard drive which
was capped off by Champlin's 1-yard plunge. Ross Pentland's
PAT gave St. John's the 7-6 lead.

Leominster came back on its next drive, highlighted by
Cordio's 31-yard run which paved the way for Bizzotto to
rumble into the end zone from three yards out.

St. John's took the 14-12 halftime lead as Pete Edwards
scored on a two-yard TD run with 47 seconds left.


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