Red Raiders let Pioneers get away
By Chad Garner 
cgarner@sentinelandenterprise.com

FITCHBURG -- Fitchburg's outside chance of claiming a
Division 1 Super Bowl berth came to a crashing halt Friday
night at Crocker Field.

Fitchburg was in a must-win situation against St. John's of
Shrewsbury and needed to bring down archrival Leominster on
Thanksgiving to keeps its hopes alive.

But the playoff scenario doesn't matter now as the Red
Raiders committed four costly turnovers on four of their
five second-half possessions, which led to 22 unanswered
St. John's points in a 28-14 Division 1 loss.

"We didn't deserve to win today," said Fitchburg coach Ray
Cosenza. "When you turn the ball over ... we just didn't do
a good job.

"(St. John's) did a great job. They beat us. They beat us
soundly. We have no excuses. We did know what was on the
line, what was at stake, and we just didn't get it
done. It's that simple."

Fitchburg (7-3, 4-2) led 14-6 to begin the third quarter,
but coughed up the football on its first play from
scrimmage, as Ryan Champlin recovered the loose ball.

The Pioneers (8-1, 5-1), coming off an embarrassing 42-point
loss to Leominster last week, went right to work via a
punishing ground game and deadly passing attack. Senior
tailback Brian Cammuso rumbled eight yards on two carries,
while senior gunslinger Peter Wood connected with wide
receiver Mike Salerno twice -- the second went for a 12-yard
TD with 8:50 remaining in the third quarter to cut the
deficit to 14-12.

"After last week's game everyone thought (St. John's) would
just roll over and we knew they wouldn't," said Cosenza.

Fitchburg went 25 yards on six plays to the Pioneer 27, but
turned the ball over once again as Andrew Heald recovered a
fumble at the Pioneer 19.

Wood highlighted an 11-play drive with a 11-yard pass to Pat
Cusson on fourth down, but Fitchburg eventually forced the
Pioneers to turn the ball over on downs as Matt Brown
pressured Wood into an incomplete pass at the 42.

Fitchburg sophomore tailback William Earley got the Red
Raiders moving via a 24-yard run to the Pioneer 26, but
three plays later senior QB Ryan Logan was intercepted by
Jesse Smith on a screen pass at the Pioneer 34.

St. John's rode the right arm of Wood (12 for 21, 161 yards,
2 TD) for the go-ahead score. Wood hit Cusson (9 receptions,
128 yards, TD) on a 12-yard slant and picked up 10 more on a
curl pattern, before finding Cusson on the sidelines for a
16-yard scoring strike. Salerno hauled in the 2-point
conversion, giving St. John's a 20-14 lead with 3:26 left in
the fourth.

"It's (the passing game) the best we've seen," said
Cosenza. "They picked us apart."

Kevin Gleason picked off Logan at the Fitchburg 26 to set up
Cammuso's (19 carries, 92 yards, 2 TD) 15-yard TD run with
1:34 remaining and a 28-14 victory.

The Pioneers took a 6-0 lead in the second quarter on
Cammuso's 7-yard TD run to cap off an 8-play, 64-yard
drive. The big play of the drive was a questionable 48-yard
Wood pass to Cusson, who appeared to fumble the ball when
falling to the ground.

But Fitchburg responded on the ensuing drive. Earley gained
32 yards on four carries, while fullback Matt Donovan added
14 yards on two carries down to the 23. From there, Earley
took a pitch, slipped a would-be-tackler behind the line of
scrimmage and turned on the burners for a 23-yard TD
scamper. Logan's kick was blocked for a 6-all tie.

Ross Pentland missed a 34-yard field goal and Fitchburg
closed out the half on a 5-play, 80-yard drive to take a
14-6 lead. Logan gained 15 yards on a draw, Earley went 16
on an option and Donovan added 10 on a dive to the 38.

On first down Earley (18 carries, 120 yards, TD; 38-yard TD
pass) took a pitch, but dropped back and fired a perfect
38-yard TD strike to Matt Vieira with 38 seconds left in the
half. Logan rolled out on the conversion and found Donovan
(10 carries, 69 yards) in the corner of the end zone.

St. John's outgained Fitchburg, 322-271.




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