Leominster stars come up big
DIVISION 1
LEOMINSTER 24 SPM 0

By Chris Forsberg CORRESPONDENT
Leominster (3-1, 2-0) went three-and-out on its opening
possession, but Bizzotto breathed some life into the offense
with his long touchdown run. He took an inside handoff and
bounced outside where he found daylight along the Leominster
sideline, turned the corner, and kicked it into another gear
while leaving a pair of defenders behind en route to the
TD. Cordio added the conversion rush for an 8-0 lead.

The Blue Devils got the ball right back after a sack by
senior defensive end Shawn Edge forced St. Peter-Marian to
go three-and-out. Leominster embarked on a seven play,
57-yard drive that carried into the second quarter before
junior quarterback Derek Craig sneaked in from the 1. Cordio
added another conversion rush, pushing Leominster's lead
to 16-0 with 9:35 left in the half.

Leominster advanced back into the red zone on its next
possession, but fumbled the ball away. St. Peter-Marian
(1-3, 0-2) responded by driving to the Leominster 29, but
senior quarterback Joe Paciello was intercepted by Cordio
when the pass deflected off receiver Matt O'Neil.

Cordio picked up some blocks and showcased his speed while
tip-toeing down the sideline for a game-clinching TD
return. Bizzotto added the conversion rush that sent
Leominster into intermission up, 24-0.

"The ball just bounced right into my hands," Cordio
said. "With no time left, I knew I had to bring it back
and I was hoping to really break the game open. Some said I
was only inches from the sideline, but we got the
touchdown."

Edge blocked a punt on St. Peter-Marian's opening drive
of the second half, and Leominster seemed poised to add to
its lead, but Craig was intercepted by O'Neil on an
ill-advised heave into the end zone on a third-and-8 play
from the 16-yard line.

The Guardians didn't advance beyond their own 33 on
either of their next two drives, however, as Leominster
limited the hosts to less than 100 yards of offense in the
second half.

Bizzotto, who entered the game averaging a gaudy 15 yards
per carry, rushed for a game-high 120 yards on 10 carries
and scored his sixth touchdown of the season. Craig added 50
yards on five carries with a touchdown, while completing 1
of 2 passes for 17 yards and an interception.

St. Peter-Marian running backs Joseph Shea and Mike Mitchell
combined for 93 yards on the ground, but Paciello finished
just 2 of 9 for two yards with a pair of interceptions.

The Blue Devils were more physical and made a number of big
hits on defense that broke up pass plays or stopped runs
short. Despite the lopsided score and stats, Leominster
coach John Dubzinski saw room for improvement.

"We're happy to get out of here with a win, but we
still have a lot of things to work on," Dubzinski
said. "St. Peter-Marian came out with more intensity than
us and they exposed our defense a little bit. We just need
to keep working."

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