Blue Devils grind it out
By Chad Garner


BOLTON -- Football fans cringe when they hear about the
dreaded "running back by committe" offensive approach.

But not in Leominster.

Leominster's powerful 3-headed monster rushing attack of
senior Tom Fallon and juniors Adam Cordio and Anthony
Bizzotto don't seem to mind sharing the pigskin.

Leominster's share-the-wealth approach worked perfectly in
the fourth quarter with the Blue Devils down by five points.

Fallon, Cordio and Bizzotto each found the end zone on
rushing touchdowns as Leominster erupted with 23 points in
the fourth quarter and held on late to nip Division 1
Nashoba Regional, 37-27, Thursday evening at Nashoba
Regional High School.

"This was a great game, both teams played great," said
Leominster coach John Dubzinski. "I thought our backs played
unbelievable -- Fallon, Bizzotto and Cordio. We've got three
good backs and they are unselfish kids. They don't care who
gets the credit. As long as you have that it works."

The Leominster (2-1) backfield accounted for all of
Leominster's 311 yards of total offense. Fallon had 113
yards on 11 carries and three touchdowns; Cordio toted the
rock 12 times for 128 yards and one TD, and Bizzotto
bulldozed his way for 70 yards on eight carries and one TD.

"I'm proud of them. This is a group that has great heart and
they work so hard in practice," said Nashoba coach John
Beary. "I can't ask any more of them than that. We're
disappointed with the results, but the effort was
there. Bizzotto, Fallon and Cordio are just tough
runners. They're big and that offensive line is big. They
just wore us down."

After Nashoba (2-1) senior back Bryan Sullivan scored his
second TD of the game -- a 35-yard jaunt to paydirt with
3:33 left in the third quarter to give the Chieftains a
19-14 lead, the Leominster big-play offense went to work.

On its second play from scrimmage in the fourth, Bizzotto
took a simple dive, bounced to the near sidelines and race
in for the 48-yard touchdown run, and Cordio added the
2-point run for the 22-19 lead.

Nashoba drove to the Leominster 23 on a seven-play drive,
but on fourth down Sean Edge stuffed Ryan Aldrich short of
the first down.

Leominster wasted little time as Cordio took a toss right
from QB Chris Swart and exploded for a 78-yard TD run, and
Bizzotto added the 2-point run with 6:58 left.

Down 30-19, Nashoba cut the deficit to 30-27 as QB Garrett
Jones found a wide open Aldrich behind the Blue Devil
secondary for a 62-yard TD hookup. Jones scampered in the
for the 2-point run with 5:56 left.

"We never felt comfortable with the lead," said
Dubzinski. "We had trouble with the misdirection and No. 22,
Aldrich, gave us trouble with his speed. But I thought we
played a little better in the second half."

But the inability to stop Leominster's potent running game
resurfaced on the Blue Devils' next possession. On fourth
down from the Nashoba 33, Fallon picked up eight tough yards
for a first down, and four plays later capped off the
10-play drive with a 24-yard TD burst up the gut to put the
game out of reach, 37-27.

The Blue Devils would get on the scoreboard first with 6:34
remaining in the first quarter. Fallon keyed the 8-play,
51-yard drive with an 11-yard TD run. The big kickout block
to spring Fallon was turned in by lineman John Ciccone.

But Nashoba tied the game at 7-all with an 8-play, 73-yard
drive as Sullivan (10 carries for 97 yards, 2 TD) took an
inside handoff and rumbled 25 yards untouched.

The Chieftains took a 13-7 lead with 11 seconds left until
halftime. Jones (7 of 14, 158 yards, 2 TD) hit favorite
target Dan Baer (5 receptions, 89 yards, TD) on a crossing
route, and Baer broke one tackle at the 4 before scoring on
a 12-yard TD strike.

After a three-and-out on Nashoba's first drive of the second
half, Leominster immediately took the lead back as Fallon
followed a lead block from Bizzotto and went 39 yards for
the score.

"We made a lot of big plays offensively, but we just
couldn't stop them," said Beary.

Nashoba regained the lead late in the third quarter as
Sullivan scored his second TD -- a shifty 35-yard
score. Jones was stuffed on the attempted 2-point
conversion, giving the Chieftains a 19-14 lead.

But that's when Leominster's backfield by committee took
over.

Nashoba outgained Leominster, 407-311.

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