Leominster tops host BC High
Blue Devils defense too tough Leominster 28 - BC High 8 Chris Forsberg CORRESPONDENT
DORCHESTER- Leominster's first trip to Eastern Mass. didn't go as well as it would have liked, but coach John Dubzinski had few complaints about the team's second pilgrimage east. Leominster's defense stopped two potential BC High scoring drives in the red zone in the first half and it's offense erupted for three fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Blue Devils emerged with a 28-8 victory at Viola Stadium. The Blue Devils (4-1) have now won four in a row since a season-opening loss in Everett versus the top ranked team in Eastern Mass. "That was the best defensive game we've played all year," Leominster coach John Dubzinski said. "Our defense really made some big plays for us tonight, especially those stops on fourth and short." BC High (2-3) took the ball to open the game and promptly marched to the Blue Devils 20-yard line before senior Steve Hunt was dropped for a loss on fourth-and-inches by Leominster linebacker Ryan Rendon. The Blue Devils responded with a smoothly engineered 80-yard drive that took 11 plays and spanned into the second quarter. Senior quarterback Chris Swart completed a pair of 17-yard passes on the drive before Tom Fallon swept around the left side on an 8-yard touchdown run that put Leominster up, 6-0. Another fourth-down stop, this time senior Anthony Bizzotto dropping Hunt for a loss at the Leominster 15 kept Leominster on top at halftime. Despite controlling the game on both sides of the ball, Leominster still clung to that slim advantage heading into the fourth quarter thanks in part to a goal line stand by the Eagles. Leominster took its opening drive of the second half down to the BC High 5, but junior running back Adam Cordio was stopped just shy of the goal line on a screen pass from Swart forcing a turnover on downs. Leominster's defense quickly forced BC High to punt and the Blue Devils offense went to work. Cordio capped a 10-play, 41-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Cordio added a 2-point conversion reception from Swart to increase the lead to 14-0. Fallon struck again, this time on defense as he intercepted BC High backup quarterback Reed Smith. With a short field in front of it, Leominster turned to its tripled-pronged rushing attack of Cordio, Fallon and senior fullback Anthony Bizzotto. Cordio capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run for a 21-0 advantage. BC High broke up the shutout as Smith completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Phil Perry late in the fourth quarter. Leominster averted disaster when Bizzotto recovered a Fallon fumble on the ensuing drive. On the next play, Bizzotto broke free on a 40-yard touchdown run to ice the game. Leominster finished with 246 yards on the ground as Bizzotto, Fallon and Cordio each had over 75 yards. "We told the boys they had a good set of running backs, but I"m not sure they llistened," BC High coach Jim Cotter said. "That's the best backfield we've seen all season." Swart was an effective 6-of-10 passing for 103 yards. He was harmlessly intercepted with one second remaining in the first half. BC High was limited to 173 yards of total offense. "We thought we could move the ball on the ground and that opened up a few play-action passes for us," Dubzinksi said. "We were able to take charge in the second half behind our running backs and our quarterback, Chris Swart, had his best game of the year." Leominster returns to league play next week with a matchup against Milford.
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