Pioneers snap losing streak

St. John's 6 - Fitchburg 2

John McGuirk
CORRESPONDENT
SHREWSBURY- If football were a game measured on style
points, then yesterday's Division 1 tilt between Fitchburg
and St. John's would fall far below average.

But football isn't measured that way and the only points
that matter are the ones on the scoreboard.

The Red Raiders and Pioneers battled through a defensive
contest before St. John's came away with an uncharacteristic
6-2 victory at Pioneer Field.

"Our defense did a tremendous job today," Pioneers coach
Tony Wood said. "I thought our punter Ross Pentland did a
great job kicking the ball today and pinning them back
because (Fitchburg) can be so explosive."

The triumph ends a four-game losing skid for the Pioneers,
who improve to 5-4 and 3-3 in divisional play. St. John's
will close out its season taking on archrival
St. Peter-Marian on Thanksgiving at Holy Cross.

"This was huge for us and these kids," Wood said. "I'm very
happy for our kids today."

For the Red Raiders (7-3, 5-1), yesterday's setback may hurt
from a psychological standpoint, but Fitchburg will still be
Super Bowl-bound if it can beat Leominster on the road
Thanksgiving Day.

The Red Raiders found the going tough all game
long. Fitchburg's punishing running game, spearheaded by
William Earley, was held in check for the most part. Earley,
a junior tailback, did gain 120 yards on 33 carries to go
over 2,000 yards on the season, but he had to work for each
one of them.

Not seen was Earley's ability to break through the offensive
line and consume huge chunks of yardage.

"The bottom line was that this was the first game our
offensive line lost the battle," Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza
said. "Their people up front won the battle today. Give
their kids all the credit. Our offensive line has done a
great job all year long but today they didn't and we turned
the ball over as a result."

The Red Raiders fumbled the ball away three times in the
first half, nullifying some pivotal drives. Perhaps the most
damaging of all came in the second quarter. Fitchburg had
put together a 15-play drive which ate up 8:22 off the
clock. But on a second-and-9 from the Pioneers' 23,
quarterback Raymond Earley was blindsided by Matt Logan. The
sophomore signal caller lost the football and linebacker
Kevin Gleason pounced on it for St. John's.

"They're a heck of a football team," said Wood. "We gave up
some big runs at times but we didn't break and got lucky at
times."

St. John's took a 6-0 lead at the 10:10 of the second. After
William Earley coughed up the ball on the Red Raider 34. The
Pioneers needed just three plays before quarterback Eric
Dickson ran it in from 28 yards out. However, the PAT was
never attempted because of a bad snap and fumble. That in
turn allowed Fitchburg defensive end Austin Douglas to scoop
up the ball and carry it 80 yards to give the Red Raiders
two points.

Yet in spite of the fact that these two programs brought in
explosive offenses, it was the defense which drew the
attention on this day, keeping the game scoreless the
remainder of the way.

For the game, Fitchburg outgained St. John's, 215 yards to
125. The Pioneers managed just 43 yards in the second half,
but it didn't hurt their cause.

"Our defense played great," Cosenza said. "It's a shame that
a great effort like that was wasted."

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