Hernandez leads the way over rival FHS
By Chad Garner  


FITCHBURG -- There was no stopping Leominster junior running
back Jon Hernandez on Thanksgiving -- not even a
snow-covered Crocker Field, which took away the shifty
runner's cutback ability.

Hernandez stood head-and-shoulders above the rest. He put
the Leominster offense on his back and toted the pigskin 29
times for 258 yards and three touchdowns as the Blue Devils
won their second straight Thanksgiving Day tussle with
Fitchburg, 20-6, at Crocker Field in the 122nd meeting
overall.

"We knew when we came onto the field today that (Hernandez)
was going to have to carry the ball 30 to 40 times ... no
question about it," said Leominster coach John
Dubzinski. "He did a good job. He's the Most Valuable Player
in our league and he showed it today. It's such a great
rivalry and both teams always play so hard. Sometimes it
doesn't work out for you, but the kids and the coaches on
both staffs put in a great effort."

On Leominster's second possession of the game, the Blue
Devils marched 61 yards on nine plays for the first score of
the morning. It was the Hernandez show and he carried eight
times and capped off the drive with an 11-yard TD run with
1:43 left in the first quarter.

Leominster secured all the momentum on Fitchburg's next
possession. On fourth down, the ball was snapped to Matt
Fraticelli, who tried a quick-kick which was partially
blocked by Leominster's Anthony Calabro. Safety Hernandez
hauled in the football and motored 50 yards to the Fitchburg
8.

From there, Hernandez put the ball into the end zone via a
5-yard TD run to give Leominster a 12-0 lead with 11 minutes
left in the second quarter.

Leominster tacked on another score with 7:43 left before
halftime. Hernandez took a handoff from quarterback Dean
Boisse and busted through the line of scrimmage en route to
the 52-yard TD gallop. Hernandez added the 2-point
conversion run as Leominster carried a comfortable 20-0 lead
into the locker room.

Fitchburg took the second-half kickoff from its own 49 down
to the Leominster 2 -- thanks to the strong running of Josh
Mathieu and Fraticelli. But with the ball at the 2 after
Mathieu's 14-yard scamper, the Leominster defense refused to
surrender a score as it forced Fitchburg to turn the ball
over on downs after four unsuccessful runs.

In the fourth, Fitchburg quarterback Jeremy Kimber connected
with Fraticelli on an 8-yard TD hookup for Fitchburg's lone
score.

In other Thanksgiving Day action, Oakmont Regional pulled
off a big upset over Gardner, 15-9. Nashoba Tech booted a
game-winning field goal to stun Monty Tech, 11-8, and
Nashoba Regional edged North Middlesex Regional, 13-12.

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