Raiders offer no excuses
By Chad Garner 
cgarner@sentinelandenterprise.com

FITCHBURG -- Perhaps, even if the Fitchburg High football
team had a full cabinet of weapons at its disposal Friday
night at Crocker Field against Eastern Mass. power Brockton,
it still couldn't have been able to beat the Boxers.

With starting junior tailback William Earley, who rushed for
390 yards last week against Nashoba Regional, and junior
linebacker Gamba Payton suspended for Friday night's
showdown, a potentially exciting football game quickly
turned into a one-sided affair.

Brockton scored on four of its five first-half possessions
for a 27-0 halftime lead and cruised to an easy 33-7
victory.

"Disciplinary reasons ... that's not the story," said
Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza when asked why Earley and Payton
weren't playing. "We got beat by a good team. Our kids came
and gave it their best shot. We had some players not here,
but that's the way it goes. We had 11 guys on the field just
like they did, but their 11 were better. It's as simple as
that."

Asked if both players will be back next week, Cosenza
replied, "One will, but the other one is still unknown. I'll
have to wait and see what happens. William will be back next
week. They made a mistake and unfortunately they had to sit
out."

In Earley's absence, junior Daeshawn Perkins got the
starting nod at tailback for the Red Raiders. He rushed for
21 yards on six carries in the first half and 47 yards on 11
carries in the game.

Fitchburg's high-powered offense would sputter, particularly
in the first half, however. The Red Raiders ran only 14
offensive plays which produced 37 total yards, three punts
and a turnover on downs.

Meanwhile, the Red Raiders had no answer for the Brockton
offense which chewed up the first-half clock via the run and
pass. Quarterback Dustin Leonard completed 10 of 11 passes
for 111 yards with two touchdown passes and one
interception. Leonard also scored on a three-yard TD run.

The ground game was just as effective. Tailback Richard
Johnson had 84 yards on four carries in the first
half. Fullback Robert Simpson chugged for 66 yards on six
carries and bolted in from 53 yards out early in the second
quarter.

Brockton had 280 yards of total offense in the first half
and 413 for the game.

Fitchburg netted 125 yards of total offense.

"They were better in all phases," said Cosenza. "They've got
great speed, their tailback was outstanding, their fullback
was tough and the quarterback was excellent. They were just
much better than us tonight."

Fitchburg may have had to battle a lot of adversity on
Friday night, but Cosenza warns not to count them out quite
yet.

"We're not done by a long run," he said. "Our kids will be
back, I'm sure of that."

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