Westboro air attack stuns Fitchburg
By Michael R. DiLornzo
Correspondent
WESTBORO -- Fitchburg's Super Bowl aspiratinos were 
smashed on Saturday, as the Red Raiders were stopped on a
two-point conversion attempt with a minute to play in a
13-12 loss to Westboro on Saturday afternoon.


"We turned the ball over and we played poorly on special
teams," said Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza, whose team falls
to 6-4 on the year.  "Your're not going to win when you play
poorly in those areas."


The Red raiders trailed 13-6 after Westboro quarterback Mike
Weill hit Tim Alves for a 3-yard touchdown pass late in the
fourth quarter.  But Fitchburg did not quit, scoring on a
51-yard pass from DAvid Masciarelli to Colin Burns to get
to within 13-12 with 1:03 left.  The Westsobo defense came
up huge, stuffing Andy LeBlanc's two-point conversion
attempt to seal the win.


The field conditions were not ideal for the contest --
though it was like something out of NFL Films.  The field
was littered with snow, the players covered in mud and
the game plan to control the ball on the ground.  Well, that
was the plan at least.


Sometime durng the first half, Westboro coach Jan Gebo
decided to refocus his plan, going with a passing attack
rather than a ground game.  It paid off, as Weiss and the
Rangers' passing game came up with several big plays.


Weiss finished the game having completed 11-of-18 for 134
yards and a touchdown.  "I was surprised we were able to
throw the ball so well," said Weiss.  "I don't even think we
intended to throw that much at the start of the game.  The
coaches did a great job in the switch."


"They have always done a great job throwing the ball," said
Cosenza.  "I don't think the weather conditions had any
effect on that part of their game,"


As good as Westboro's passing attack was, the Red Raiders
did more to hurt themselves with mistakes.  The Raiders
fumbled the ball away twice -- once when Andy LeBlanc was in
the clear for what would have been a long touchdown run.
Fitchburg also missed a field goal and an extra point in
additon to the two-point conversion in the final minute.


"Don't take anything away from Westboro they played a very
good game." said Cosenza.  "But we didn't execute and we
made mistakes.  That has been what has hurt us in our other
losses this year, and it did the same today."


The Raiders grabbed the lead early in the second quarter on
a 81-yard run by Dustin LeBlanc (120 yards on the day).  The
extra point was no good to keep it 6-0.


Undaunted, Westboro took the Air Gebo offensse to the lead,
as Weiss connected on four passes to move the Rangers to the
Fitchburg 1-yard line.  Weiss plunged in from there, and the
extra point gave the Rangers a 7-6 lead at the half.


The Red RAiders looked like they would take a lead on their
first possession of the second half, as Andy LeBlanc broke
though Westboro's nine-man front at midfield and had nothing
between him and the goal line but snow and grass.  But the
ball somehow slipped out of his hands at the Westboro 32,
and the Rangers recovered.


"They gave us the ball a lot," said Weiss.  "We played well
on defenses, but that deficitely helped."


The Red Raiders will try and regroup for Thanksgiving Day
when they face arch-rival Leominster at Doyle field.  Shold
the Blue Devils defeat North Middlesex on Friday, they would
need a win over the Red Raiders on Turkey Day to sew up a
Super Bowl berth.