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Lunenburg High

High School Football: Leominster, Peabody set for heavyweight clash

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Looking at the numbers and reviewing the tape, it’s fairly safe to say that the Leominster High football juggernaut has yet to truly be challenged this season.

Sure, the 4-0 Blue Devils fell behind early in last week’s game at Shepherd Hill, but once Leominster got rolling, there was no stopping it in a 45-14 rout. The little adversity the team has faced so far has proven to be nothing the Blue Devils couldn’t handle.

Nothing’s easy in football, but Leominster’s early-season onslaught has definitely made winning look pretty simple.

Leominster gets its first big test tonight, on paper at the very least, as the Blue Devils hit the road to face undefeated Peabody. The Tanners enter the contest with an identical 4-0 mark and have dominated opposing teams in a very similar fashion to the Blue Devils.

Leominster enters the game scoring 40.5 points per contest, allowing just 6.67 points to opponents with a pair of shutouts. The Blue Devils likely feel as though they’re looking in the mirror with the Tanners, who are putting up 38.75 points per game and have allowed an average of an even five points per contest with two blankings.

Peabody is coming off a 40-7 drubbing of Marblehead last week, snapping the Magicians’ 23-game winning streak, the longest active streak in the state.

Something will have to give tonight.

Of note: Leominster has four wins this fall, putting it four away from becoming just the third program in Massachusetts high school football history to reach 800 victories. The Blue Devils could join Brockton and Everett at that milestone by the end of the season.

Bulldogs look to rebound

Having suffered through a tough start followed by a furious comeback only to be sunk in the final minute of last week’s loss to Bay Path, Monty Tech will certainly look to come out of the gates hot tonight when it hosts Blue Hills Regional (2-2).

The Bulldogs (3-1) trailed the Minutemen 28-6 at halftime last Friday, rallying behind the efforts of Ryan Quinn and Logan Quinn to take a 36-35 lead in the fourth quarter. But Bay Path had one final push, scoring with 35 seconds left and adding a conversion run to sink Monty Tech and erase its storybook comeback bid.

Back for more

Having handed Boston Latin Academy its first loss last week, Oakmont Regional (2-2) will try to knock another team from the ranks of the undefeated tonight.

The Spartans, coming off a 29-6 rout of Latin Academy at Arthur I. Hurd Memorial Field, will travel to Hudson High School to take on the 4-0 Hawks.

That was… easy

Lunenburg improved to 3-2 on the season after it was announced Thursday afternoon that Gardner would forfeit tonight’s contest against the Blue Knights.

Action elsewhere

There’s no shortage of local gridiron options tonight, including 3-1 St. Bernard’s welcoming Nipmuc Regional (1-3) to the Bernardian Bowl. Not far from that contest Fitchburg High (0-4) seeks its first win of the fall as Marlboro (3-1) comes to Crocker Field.

Nashoba Regional welcomes Westboro to Bolton tonight. (Courtesy Nashoba Regional Athletics)
Nashoba Regional welcomes Westboro to Bolton tonight. (Courtesy Nashoba Regional Athletics)

Also tonight, North Middlesex Regional (2-2) hosts Dracut (1-3); Nashoba Regional (2-2) welcomes Westboro (0-4) to Bolton; and Ayer Shirley (3-1) plays host to Quabbin Regional (1-3).

Local roundup: Wolves swept by Algonquin

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The Nashoba Regional girls volleyball team couldn’t slow down visiting Algonquin Regional on Monday evening.

The visiting Titans cruised to victory over the Wolves in three straight sets by scores of 25-15, 25-23 and 25-13.

Algonquin improves to 8-3, while Nashoba drops to 5-4.

Nashoba was led by senior Kylie Doherty with 14 kills and junior Mia Samarjian with 11 digs.

The Wolves return to action on Wednesday afternoon when they host Leominster.

North Middlesex 3, Ayer Shirley 1 >> The Patriots won by set scores of 21-25, 25-16, 25-14 and 25-10.

Jess Allard had three aces and a kill in the win, while Joanne Nolan added 10 assists and an ace and Nora Tesini had six kills.

Monty Tech 3, Bay Path 1 >> The Bulldogs won by set scores of 12-25, 25-10, 25-23 and 26-24.

Meghan Phyfe had eight assists, three aces and two digs in the win, while Skyla Pulver added three kills, three digs and two aces and Jayda DeCarlo had a half dozen blocks.

Boys soccer

North Middlesex 3, North 2 >> Tyler Jastrab and Ron Nolin each had a goal and an assist to lead the Patriots. Jack Harrington also scored in the win.

High school field hockey

Leominster 8, Groton-Dunstable 1 >> After falling behind 1-0 in the first quarters, the Blue Devil offense erupted. Abby Kelly scored twice, Gabby Santucci notched a goal and an assist and Maddie Parker dished out four helpers for the Blue Devils (9-1).

Golf

Bromfield 34, Oakmont 20 >> The loss drops the Spartans to 5-7.

Boys cross country

Algonquin 15, Leominster 50 >> James Connor (19:25) finished ninth to pace the Blue Devils (0-4), while Cam Beaulac (19:49) was 11th and Landon Pelleiter (19:52) took 12th.

Girls cross country

Algonquin 20, Leominster 43 >> Anna Serafini claimed first for Leominster (0-4) in 20:29. Cassandra Dirsa (24:55) was 12th in the loss and Mikayla Kelly (25:00) took 13th.

Women’s soccer

Fitchburg State freshman Adrianna Westcott was named Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women’s soccer Rookie of the Week on Monday afternoon.

The first-year Falcon earns her first weekly honor of the year after registering one goal and one assist over two contests for the Green and Gold.

Westcott collected an assist in a 4-2 setback to Wentworth on Wednesday afternoon before netting the game-tying goal in a 1-all draw with Bridgewater State on Saturday for the Falcons (4-4-2, 2-0-1 MASCAC).

Men’s soccer

Worcester State freshman and Lunenburg High grad Brady Iovanni was named MASCAC men’s soccer Rookie of the Week on Monday.

Lunenburg's Brady Iovanni has been named MASCAC men's soccer Rookie of the Week. (Courtesy Worcester State Athletics)
Lunenburg’s Brady Iovanni has been named MASCAC men’s soccer Rookie of the Week. (Courtesy Worcester State Athletics)

Iovanni scored a goal and added an assist in the Lancers’ 2-0 win over Westfield State on Friday.

 

Football notebook: ‘Dogs fall, Blue Devils roll

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The Bulldogs had their sights set on 4-0 for the first time in 45 years.

But the way the Monty Tech football team played in the first 24 minutes of Friday’s tilt against Bay Path wasn’t becoming of a flawless team. Turnovers were numerous and a deep hole had been dug as the Bulldogs went to the locker room down 28-6.

And despite a furious rally that saw the hosts lead at Bulldog Field in the fourth quarter, the gassed ‘Dogs couldn’t fend off one final Bay Path drive as the guests scored in the final minute to leave Fitchburg with a 43-36 victory.

Maybe it was a lack of focus. Maybe it was just a bad game.

Either way, it’s a loss that the Bulldogs will take plenty from heading into next Friday as Blue Hills Regional comes to town.

Of the positives, the play of quarterback Logan Quinn in the second half has to be atop the list. The senior scored three of his four touchdowns after the intermission and put the Bulldogs in a position to have a shot at a win.

To most, that would have seemed the most uphill of battles at halftime. There’s something to be said for the poise and urgency with which Monty Tech played, even in defeat.

Blue Devils survive scare

For the first time this season, Leominster found itself playing from behind.

The Blue Devils trailed throughout the first quarter of Friday’s game at Shepherd Hill, but shook off the rust en route to a 45-14 victory to improve to 4-0. And while he’s been solid all season, freshman quarterback claimed his spotlight in the road victory.

Leominster freshman quarterback Osiris Lopez runs the ball during Thursday's game against Fitchburg. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)
Leominster’s Osiris Lopez threw six touchdown passes in Friday’s win over Shepherd Hill. (Sentinel & Enterprise File Photo)

Lopez showed off his arm and accuracy in throwing a half dozen TD passes, including two each to classmate Kaiden Drinkwater and senior Ricky Encarnacion. He also hit Juan Miranda and Bryan Aguilar for scoring strikes in the third quarter.

The Blue Devils trailed 7-6 after the first quarter and 14-13 in the second before taking a 19-14 lead to halftime. The visitors turned it on in a 19-point third quarter and held the Rams (1-3) scoreless for the entire second half.

Not only did Leominster’s defense step up to shut down the hosts, it added points to the scoreboard courtesy of a Steven Diaz pick six.

A little bit of adversity certainly didn’t seem to rattle the Blue Devils.

OT thriller for Wolves

It took a stellar play to force an extra session, but once Nashoba Regional got to OT, it took care of business.

Thomas Keuffler blocked a field goal attempt as the buzzer sounded to end regulation, forcing overtime at Malden Catholic. Ben Silvester scored his second TD of the night in OT before adding the two-point run and the Wolves’ (2-2) defense stood tall as the team headed back to Bolton with a 15-7 victory.

Blue Knights erupt

Cooper Shaw ran for nearly 200 yards and scored twice as Lunenburg trounced Littleton, 44-8. Hunter Matson hit the century mark rushing and added a TD as the Blue Knights (2-2) had little trouble with the Tigers’ defensive efforts.

Dylan Adamson and Sean Delaney each pulled in touchdown passes from Alex Figueroa as the Blue Knights cruised at home.

Around the region

North Middlesex Regional (2-2) handed Groton-Dunstable its first loss of the season, winning 33-13 on the road, while host Oakmont Regional did the same to Boston Latin Academy in a 29-6 victory.

St. Bernard’s had no problem winning at Leicester as Antonio Mancini (three TDs) and Damien Jones (two TDs) led the way in a 44-14 victory.  And Fitchburg High continues to search for its first win, falling 37-0 in Shrewsbury to St. John’s.

Local roundup: Falcons grounded by Rivier

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The Fitchburg State field hockey team fell into a hole in the first half and never recovered, dropping a 4-2 contest at Rivier University Friday evening.

Down 2-0 at halftime, the Falcons (4-5) clawed back to within one after three, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Olivia Narkevicius scored in the third quarter off a feed from Alexis Raymond before Lena Kassel added her team-leading 16th goal of the season later in the stanza.

High school football

Oakmont 29, Boston Latin Academy 6 >> The win lifts the Spartans to 2-2.

St. John’s 37, Fitchburg 0 >> The loss drops the Red Raiders to 0-4.

St. Bernard’s 44, Leicester 14 >> The Bernardians improve to 3-1 on the season.

Nashoba 15, Malden Catholic 7 >> The Wolves blocked a kick as time expired and then went on to win in overtime, improving to 2-2.

Boys soccer

Ayer Shirley 2, Parker 1 >> Kevin Velasquez and Nick Cruz netted goals to power the Panthers.

North Middlesex 5, Uxbridge 1 >> Ron Nolin, Tyler Jastrab, Lukian Yamanishi, Marlon Artuso and Jack Harrington (assist) found the back of the net for the Patriots. Noah Bagley dished out a pair of helpers and Rowan McCarthy had another in the win.

Girls soccer

Uxbridge 4, North Middlesex 3 >> Patriots (3-5). Lauren Torpey scored twice for the Patriots (3-5), while Jill Hodgson added a single marker.

Field hockey

Oakmont 1, Leominster 0 >> Addi Roy netted the lone goal of the game, lifting the Spartans (5-1-2) past the host Blue Devils (8-1).

Lunenburg 3, Bromfield 0 >> Ava Wilson potted a pair of goals and Caitlin Ware found the back of the cage once for the Blue Knights.

Nashoba 3, Notre Dame Academy 0 >> The Wolves (5-2-1) got goals from Lauren DiTullio, Gracie Reisner (assist) and Bella Cosentino, while Ali Vanasse and Kayla Flanagan added helpers.

Golf

North Middlesex 30.5, St. Bernard’s 23.5 >> Andrew Peterson led the Patriots (12-0) with a 1-under 34 at Northern Spy Golf Club, while teammates Jake Miller, Shawn Amari and Mike Archambault all shot 38s.

The match medalist was Patrick Ginnity, who carded a 2-under 33 for the Bernardians (5-4). Adam Bosco finished at 38 for St. Bernard’s.

Leominster 215, Algonquin 222 >> Luke Grebinar was the match medalist with a 4-over 40 at Gardner Municipal Golf Course to lead Leominster (10-2).

Volleyball

North Middlesex 3, Fitchburg 1 >> The Patriots won by scores of 25-20; 19-25; 25-15 and 25-17.

Brooke Nelson had 16 kills and two aces for North Middlesex (5-5), while Bella Perritano added nine kills and four aces and Meghan Boucher had five kills.

Fitchburg (2-7) was led by senior Chiali Moua who had 30 assists to go with eight aces, while junior Keishla Troche added six aces, five kills and four tips.

Football Notebook: Freshman duo fits right in for Leominster

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As seminal British rock The Who so eloquently put it way back in 1965, the kids are alright.

Indeed, that’s the case at Leominster High School, where a pair of freshmen have lit up the opposition in a pair of wins to start the season.

If it looks like the tandem of quarterback Osiris Lopez and Kaiden Drinkwater operate like a well-oiled machine, there’s a good reason for it. Repetition makes things easier on the gridiron.

“They’ve just grown up throwing the ball to each other ever since they were four years old,” Leominster head coach Devin Gates said of his explosive freshman duo following Friday’s 42-0 blanking of Doherty at Doyle Field. “It’s really a luxury. We don’t have to go crazy. We’ve got guys like that who go and make plays. We keep it simple and they go out there and make plays.”

Lopez completed 11 of 13 passes for 181 yards through the air and two touchdowns, both to his classmate Drinkwater. The first opened the scoring on a short pass that found Drinkwater uncovered and the wideout raced 47 yards to the end zone.

And in the second quarter, Lopez unleashed a long pass on fourth and 6 and Drinkwater did the rest, elevating over a defender to catch the ball in stride as he entered the end zone for a 26-yard scoring strike.

The Blue Devils have benefitted immediately in adding a pass catcher like Drinkwater and a dual-threat quarterback in Lopez to an offensive group that includes that likes of running back Ma’Kai Stinson Newton (78 yards on nine carries, two TDs on Friday), steady receiver Bryan Aguilar and the dynamic Ricky Encarnacion, who scored on a kick return as well as a punt return against Doherty.

Leominster's Ma'Kai Stinson Newton tries to shake a Doherty defender during Friday's game. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)
Leominster’s Ma’Kai Stinson Newton tries to shake a Doherty defender during Friday’s game. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)

While the freshmen have stepped into the spotlight, they’ve done so without taking the shine off any of their equally deserving teammates, according to Gates.

“They’re two special players who have earned their spots here, obviously,” he said. “They’ve earned the respect of their teammates and they’ve been embraced.”

Defensive pride

While the offense has put up 90 points in two games for the Blue Devils, the defense has more than held up its end of the deal, allowing just six points and pitching a shutout against Doherty.

Leominster racked up five sacks on Friday, including one for a safety as Jiovanni Roman led a host of Blue Devil defenders onto Doherty QB Dean Pullman in the end zone in the second quarter. Xavier Cora and Logan Arce picked off passes and the defense never really seemed threatened by anything the Highlanders threw its way.

The key?

“Just playing together. The guys are excited,” Gates said of his defense. “They come in and get after it every practice. … It’s a point of pride for our football team, but really the identity of our team.”

The Blue Devils — offense, defense and special teams — will next be tested by a physical Nashoba Regional team when the Wolves come to Doyle Field on Friday. Nashoba is coming off a shutout of its own, a 10-0 victory over Longmeadow in Bolton, to lift the team to 1-1 on the young season.

Bulldogs on a roll

The fall campaign remains in its infancy, but Monty Teck is looking like a growing force on the gridiron. The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 on the campaign with a 34-18 victory at Narragansett Regional on Thursday night.

Logan Quinn had a huge game for Monty Tech, throwing a pair of touchdown passes and adding two more on the ground as the Bulldogs picked up a big win on the road.

The Bulldogs will put their perfect record on the line next Friday when they hit the road to face Gardner (1-1).

Blue Knights get a W

Lunenburg picked up its first win of the fall Friday night, getting to .500 with a 41-6 rout of Quabbin Regional.

Quarterback Alex Figueroa connected with Dylan Adamson on a pair of touchdown passes and Brady Burns ran for two TDs as the Blue Knights shook off an opening-night loss to Oxford. They’ll look to get to 2-1 next week against Ayer Shirley.

High School Football: Leominster aims to shine at home

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Having impressed in enemy territory to open the season, the Leominster High football team will have a chance to shine on its home field tonight.

The Blue Devils’ home opener will see LHS welcoming Doherty to Doyle Field at 7 p.m. in a clash of teams whose results in Week 1 couldn’t have been much more different.

Leominster comes off a 48-6 thumping of archrival Fitchburg High at Crocker Field, handing the Red Raiders the 500th loss in program history in the process. Last Thursday’s contest saw the Blue Devils put up 41 points in the first half, the most points ever in a half in the storied rivalry, according to historian Mark Bodanza.

Meanwhile, Doherty is coming off a 20-0 blanking at Algonquin Regional.

The Highlanders will have their collective hands full with a Blue Devils team that played smothering defense last week and showcased an impressive offense led by a poised freshman quarterback.

Osiris Lopez looks cool and calm under center last week in enemy territory and while some of that likely comes as part of the freshman’s disposition, having the players Lopez has around him certainly can’t hurt either.

While Lopez showed the ability to take open space when it’s presented to him, he also had no problem fitting throws into tight windows for receiver Kaiden Drinkwater and getting the ball into the hands of powerful running back Ma’Kai Stinson Newton and all-everything weapon Ricky Encarnacion.

With the time the Leominster offensive line gave the skill position players last week, there were plenty of gaping holes to exploit and the Blue Devils did just that.

And speaking of milestones, Leominster is inching closer to becoming just the third program in Massachusetts history to reach the 800-win plateau. Last week’s victory over the Red Raiders was win No. 793.

Only Brockton and Everett have reached that mark.

Tough runners to be tested

St. Bernard’s opened with a rout of Blackstone Valley Tech last week, cruising to a 30-0 win at the Bernardian Bowl.

And while the venue will be the same for tonight’s tilt, the outcome will likely be a bit different as the Bernardians welcome a potent Stoneham side to Fitchburg. The Spartans, playing out of the Middlesex League’s Freedom Division, opened with a 24-16 victory over Winthrop.

St. Bernard's Damien Jones carries the ball during last Friday's game against Blackstone Valley Tech. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)
St. Bernard’s Damien Jones carries the ball during last Friday’s game against Blackstone Valley Tech. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)

The guest Spartans will be tasked with slowing down the two-headed running attack of Antonio Mancini and Damien Jones, a pair of seniors who combined for over 300 yards on the ground last week.

Keep it rolling

Coming off a 28-7 win at Littleton to start the Jordan Murphy era, North Middlesex Regional faces a tall task in the quest to start 2-0, traveling to Auburn to face a solid Rockets team.

Meanwhile, Oakmont Regional, a 38-12 winner over Narragansett Regional last week, heads to Clinton hoping to remain unbeaten.

Looking to rebound

Several local ties will look to get back to .500 on the young season after dropping their openers. While falling to 0-2 wouldn’t spell the end of a season, it’s certainly an uphill climb to the playoffs from such a hole.

Fitchburg looks to shake off the aforementioned drubbing it took last week when it travels to Holden tonight to face Wachusett Regional. Likewise, Nashoba Regional — on the wrong side of a 27-7 decision to Grafton — will look to get a win when it hosts Longmeadow and Lunenburg — which fell at Oxford, 31-25 — plays host to Quabbin Regional looking for win No. 1 on the season.

Ayer Shirley, which dropped a 22-20 game in overtime at Worcester Tech last Friday, hosts Worcester North on Saturday afternoon.