Fitchburg looked poised to score again on its next possesion as Morales went over 100-yard mark with a 19 yard gain to the Wachusett 6. After the Mountaineers backed Fitchburg up to the 15 Gates looked to the air and found Rob Seguin, but he was stopped at the 1 yard line to give Wachusett the ball.
Despoite the poor field position the Mountaineers mounted their first scoring drive, marching 99 yards on 12 plays to pull within one. Joe Smalley and Adam Heppe alternated runs with an occasional throw from Mike Hogan to Jim Johnston. Heppe finished the job with a 1 yard run and Bill Preskenis added the PAT.
Fitchburg answered with a seven play, 63 yard drive to the end zone. Chris Roy did most of the work, carrying the ball six of the seven runs. Gates connected with Seguin on the two point conversion to give Fitchburg a nine point lead with just over two minutes left in the half.
Wachusett added another score, taking advantage of four consecutive third down conversions, including a 14 yard touchdown pass from Hogan to Heppe on third-and-goal from the 14, Preskenis added the PAT to cut the Raiders lead to two, 16-14 going into the locker room.
"You have to give them credit, they played well in the first half," said Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza. "They came out and gave us all we could handle in the first half."
After warming up in the locker room, the Raiders came out and took advantage of several Mountaineer miscues. The Mountaineers first play from scrimmage went for a first down before a fumble gave the ball back to the Red Raiders. Roy capitalized, rambling into the endzone with Seguin on the conversion play once again to push the Raiders lead to 10, 24-14.
"We came out inspired in the first half. We showed what we can do against the best team in the state," said Mountaineer coach Mal Kelley following the game. "We knew they had too many weapons but I'm proud of our boys, they came to play today and they played hard. The turnovers really killed us. We get a first down and then fumble and 'zip', they're right back in the end zone."
Things continued to go against the hosts as their next drive lasted only three plays before a Hogan Pass intended for Heppe was picked off you Genaro Hall and returned 36 yareds for another Red Raider touchdown. Gates'conversion pass fell incomplete, leaving the Fitchburg lead at 16, 30-14.
The Mountaineers still couldn't get the wagon rolling as another first down fumble gave Fitchburg great field position at midfield. Once again, Roy took the ball all the way in on the Red Raiders first play from scrimmage. Tom Emberley added the PAT.
The Red Raiders added another score early in the fourth quarter when Hall stepped in front of another Hogan pass and outran the Mountaineers 70 yards into the end zone.