Raiders keep on rolling
Fitchburg will play for berth
Fitchburg 47 - St. Peter-Marian 13

Josh Bousquet
T&G STAFF

WORCESTER - Thanksgiving dinner will taste a little sweeter
this year for either Fitchburg or Leominster.

The second-ranked Red Raiders controlled both sides of the
ball and grinded to a 47-13 rout of fourth-ranked
St. Peter-Marian to set up a winner-goes-to-the-Division 1
Super Bowl on Turkey Day with the Blue Devils.

William Earley turned in another of his weekly highlight
reels, as he ripped off 23 runs for 187 yards and scored 5
touchdowns.

And he sat out the fourth quarter. 

He added a new wrinkle to his repertoire this week, too,
returning a fumble on defense for 46 yards to close out the
first half and give his team a 35-7 lead.

"I put this one at the top, put it at the top," Earley said
of his performances this season, singling out the fumble
return as a highlight.

The junior halfback also had two first-quarter scoring runs
to go with one in both the second and third.

The arsenal seems to be expanding for the Red Raiders (7-2,
5-0) as well. Fullback Eldred Wright made sure the defense
couldn't completely key on Earley by gaining 77 yards on 12
carries.

Earley's younger brother, Raymond, is also coming into his
own when it comes to controlling the game from his
quarterback position.

"He's been getting better every game. That's a cliche, but
he has," coach Ray Cosenza said. "He's making plays for us
when we need plays, and that takes some of the weight
off. It gives other teams something to think about."

Raymond Earley's biggest play yesterday came late in the
second quarter when he ran in a ball in from 7 yards for a
touchdown. He followed that with a quarterback sneak for the
two-point conversion.

The Fitchburg defense also confounded the usually potent SPM
(6-3, 3-2) offense. In the first half, it held the Guardians
to three three-and-outs and allowed only one first down.

Cosenza credited his defense's speed with the effort. "When
you hold an offensive team as good as this one to as few
points as we did, that means a lot of people did a good
job," the coach said.

The clean play on both sides of the ball has Cosenza pleased
with how the season is progressing.

"Last year at this time, it (Super Bowl bid) wasn't in our
own hands, we had to have a lot of things happen," he
said. "Well, this year, it's in our hands. The kids
responded and took care of business today."

Even so, he says they're not looking past Saturday's matchup
at division rival St. John's, calling the Pioneers "another
team that has had our number. ... They beat us two years in
a row, so it's still an important game. This group of kids
has not beaten them yet."

Trailing, 14-0, after the first quarter, St. Peter-Marian
seemed to have some life when Mike O'Neil broke free with a
sweep to the left side for a 23-yard touchdown run. A George
Vasiliadis kick brought the Guardians to within 14-7 with
9:12 left.

Fitchburg never blinked, though, putting together a
six-play, 56-yard drive on its ensuing possession, capped by
a William Earley 3-yard scoring run.

When the Guardians got the ball back, they seemed
deflated. Matt Lamey led a host of Fitchburg tacklers who
got a sack on first down. Second down saw an incomplete
pass, and Austin Douglas burst into the backfield and
deflected a pass on third.

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