Boxers eclipse Raiders
By Glen Farley Correspondent

BROCKTON -- Fitchburg football coach Ray Cosenza felt his
team had the Boxers of Brockton High School on the ropes
Friday night.

The Red Raiders simply lacked a knockout punch.

"It was a matter of big plays by them," Cosenza said after
his team had slipped to 3-2 with a 19-14 loss on a
rain-slicked night at Marciano Stadium. "We had a breakdown
on a pass play and they scored, a breakdown on a fourth-down
run and they scored. Beyond that, I felt we dominated the
line of scrimmage."

The two teams' offenses began the night in high gear. Each
of the game's first three possessions resulted in
touchdowns, leaving Brockton with a 13-6 lead 14 seconds
into the second quarter.

Brockton (3-2) used the quick-strike route to take a 7-0
lead. Faced with a third-and-21 situation from their own 24,
the Boxers picked up a Red Raiders blitz, allowing senior
quarterback Dominique Beck to find Brandon Hill behind the
Fitchburg secondary at midfield with a pass that the senior
wide receiver took the distance for a 76-yard touchdown on
the game's third play from scrimmage. Senior Rashawn Jones
tacked on the point-after conversion.

Fitchburg (also 3-2) used the ball-control approach to
answer, driving 73 yards in 12 plays, with senior
quarterback Ryan Logan capping the scoring drive off with a
2-yard TD toss to Matt Donovan, who slipped out of the
backfield uncovered. Logan and Donovan also teamed up for
the key play along the way, a short pass the junior fullback
turned into a 31-yard gain to the Brockton 15. A pass for
the 2-point conversion off a direct snap to the kicker
failed, however, leaving the Boxers in front, 7-6, with 1:43
to play in the first quarter.

It took the Boxers four plays to cover 78 yards in their
next possession as, on the opening play of the second
quarter, senior Tyronne Pruitt (21 carries, 192 yards, 2
TDs) slipped out of an I-formation through a stacked defense
and broke to his right for a 69-yard touchdown run on
fourth-and-one from the Brockton 31. The point-after kick
was blocked.

A Boxer bid to add to the lead was denied at the end of the
first half when a 14-play, 62-yard drive died with Beck
being gang tackled inside the 2 as he rolled out to his
right and tried to get to the pylon on fourth-and-goal from
the 5. In a drive that consisted of 11 runs and three
passes, Hill contributed the big play, sprinting 16 yards to
the Fitchburg 33 on a reverse to the right side.

Hill and Pruitt were the key components as Brockton pushed
its lead to 19-6 with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter.

Riding sophomore tailback William Earley (four carries for
22 yards on the drive, 22 carries for 107 yards in the game)
the Red Raiders took the first possession of the second half
36 yards to the Brockton 14 only to come up empty when Hill
scooped up a Fitchburg fumble.

The Boxers didn't merely turn the Red Raiders away in the
red zone, they capitalized on the turnover by driving 84
yards in five plays, with Pruitt again busting loose down
the right side for a score, this one a 54-yarder with 3:27
left in the third quarter.

By the end of the quarter, the Red Raiders had cut their
deficit to 19-14 as Logan sneaked in for a 1-yard TD and
then threw to Donovan for the 2-point conversion. The
Fitchburg scoring drive covered 72 yards in seven plays,
with Logan (13 yards), Donovan (26 yards) and Earley (17
yards) all contributing major runs, but that would be the
last time the Red Raiders would threaten to score.

"The kids played great," said Cosenza. "It's a shame it had
to end that way."


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