With sixth straight win, 
Raiders earn Super Bowl trip
by Chad Garner

LEOMINSTER -- The Fitchburg High football team expects two things on
Thanksgiving: a giant turkey dinner and a victory over archrival
Leominster.

Despite the underdog billing, Fitchburg's Turkey Day dominance
continued over the Blue Devils Thursday morning at Doyle Field.

Fitchburg superstar junior tailback William Earley dominated the
much-anticipated showdown against Leominster's three-headed monster
rushing attack on the biggest stage of them all. Earley got the ball
early and often, carrying the pigskin a whopping 40 times and shredded
Leominster's defense for 254 yards and four touchdowns as the Red
Raiders won, 24-14, on Thanksgiving for the sixth straight year and 12
out of the last 13.

"I say this every time this happens ... I'm so proud of our kids and
our coaches," said Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza, whose team clinched a
berth in the Division 1 Central/Western Mass. Super Bowl with the
victory. "It's just unbelievable. People might have given up on us,
but no one in red did. Hey, we get to play another week."

Asked why Fitchburg's (8-3) been so successful in recent years on
Thanksgiving, Cosenza replied: "I don't know. I wish I could bottle it
and sell it, I'd probably be rich. I think it's just the type of kids
we have, they never quit. The staff did a fantastic job and I thought
the game plan was fantastic. We've got the best staff around."

Fitchburg now leads the overall series, 58-53-9.

"I don't dwell on that. These kids don't deserve to have the weight of
six losses on their shoulders because they played hard," said
Leominster coach John Dubzinski. "We're disappointed with the loss,
but I'm not disappointed with our season. I thought the kids did a
fantastic job."

Early-game jitters were evident in Leominster's (8-2-1) first
possession of the game as fullback Anthony Bizzotto (8 carries, 35
yards, TD) fumbled at the Leominster 47, which was recovered by Gamba
Payton.

Fitchburg immediately began it's game-long pounding up inside with
Earley. After a modest 1-yard and no gain, Earley took a counter left
from quarterback Raymond Earley (7 carries, 31 yards) and went
untouched en route to the 46-yard TD with 10:19 left in the first
quarter. The kick failed and Fitchburg led 6-0.

Leominster stormed right back on its next drive via an 11-play,
57-yard drive. Quarterback Chris Swart (9 of 22 passing, 128 yards,
INT) hit running back Adam Cordio (15 carries, 47 yards, TD; 4
receptions, 50 yards) for 11 yards on a quick screen, while a ground
game of Bizzotto, Cordio and Fallon (6 carries, 25 yards) brought the
ball to the 11. On first down from the 11, Cordio busted off the right
end and into the end zone for the 11-yard score. Bizzotto was stuffed
on the two-point conversion, deadlocking the game at 6-all.

Fitchburg ran into a problem when punter Brian Ricciuti bobbled the
snap, was hit by a defender and the ball was scooped up by Andrew
Moran at the Fitchburg 9.

But the Red Raider defense stood tall. On fourth-and-goal from the 3,
Earley came up in run support to cut down Cordio for a one-yard loss
as the Blue Devils turned the ball over on downs.

The ball-control Red Raider offense, starting at their own 4, churned
out a textbook 14-play, 96-yard drive to take a 12-6 lead. The biggest
play of the drive came on fourth down as upback Earley took the direct
snap on a punt and bolted left for two yards to keep the drive alive.

"I thought a couple key plays were when we didn't capitalize on their
botched punt, and then they ran a fake punt for a first down," said
Dubzinski.

Earley also finished off the drive with another long TD run -- this
time from 51-yards out on the identical counter left play that
produced the first score.

"The linemen opened the holes up every time, three feet wide," said
Earley of Fitchburg's counter trap play. "It's an unexplainable
feeling. It feels way better than winning any regular season game."

While Leominster was forced to punt after the Fitchburg score, the Red
Raider offense continued to pound the ball behind a fierce line of Joe
Golden, Austin Douglas, Anthony Murray, Brad McNamara, Logan Johnson
and fullback Eldred Wright (11 carries, 41 yards). The men in the
trenches once again sliced Leominster on the counter trap as Earley
raced 34 yards down to the 12. He added a four-yard burst to the
right, and finished it off with an 8-yard TD run behind the left guard
with 45 seconds left to take an 18-6 halftime lead.

"There's no secret, (Earley) broke some early and he got some tough
yardage when we needed it. That's the type of back he is," said
Cosenza. "Our offensive line did pretty well, too. And the other thing
is, is our defense kept us in the game."

Fitchburg outgained Leominster, 220-96, in the first half and 326-232
for the game.

Fitchburg opened the second half with two straight fumbles which were
recovered by Ryan Rendon and Billy Brooks. Brooks' recovery set up
Leominster's second score. Starting at the Fitchburg 34, Swart
produced Leominster's biggest play of the game -- a 28-yard pass down
the near sidelines to Tim DiLillo. After a Bizzotto 5-yard run and a
5-yard motion penalty, Cordio went five yards to the 1 on two
carries. But on fourth down, Bizzotto got the call and snuck his way
through the line for the 1-yard TD run. Bizzotto also grabbed the
two-point conversion pass from Swart to cut the deficit to 18-14 with
3:08 left in the third.

Fitchburg threatened once again, but on fourth-and-2 from the 24,
Rendon and DiLillo gang tackled Earley for no gain.

But Fitchburg immediately got the ball back as end Douglas stuck out
his hand on a Swart option pitch, recovered the ball and was tackled
from behind by Cordio at the Leominster 10.

"That was a big play, too," said Dubzinski. "At that point in time we
had things going pretty good even tough we had about 80 yards to go. I
felt pretty good that we were going to move the ball down the field
and then we had a turnover on a pitch. Those things happen, and they
converted on it. That made it tough for us, two scores."

Earley got the call again and carried all three times for 10 yards --
the final carry a 3-yard TD run for the 24-14 final.

Leominster committed four turnovers compared to Fitchburg's three.

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