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Monty Tech

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.

Bay Path fends off Bulldogs

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FITCHBURG —  A furious comeback attempt by the Monty Tech football team fell short on Friday night.

The Bulldogs rallied from a 22-point halftime deficit to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, only to watch visiting Bay Path march down field and find the end zone with 30 seconds left as the Minutemen left Bulldog Field with a wild 43-36 win.

Bay Path improves to 2-2 on the season while Monty Tech falls to 3-1.

The Bulldogs were hoping to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 1977, but their guests from Charlton had other ideas as Bay Path built a 28-6 halftime lead thanks in part to three Monty Tech turnovers in the opening 24 minutes.

“It was nice comeback, but our first half was gross,” said Monty Tech head coach Anthony Secino. “Turnovers were awful. It was a repeat of our game against Bay Path last year down there. We have to get better. The way we played in the first half was unacceptable.”

Trailing 35-28 midway through the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs recovered a squib kickoff at their own 43-yard line. Six plays later, Monty Tech senior captain and quarterback Logan Quinn called his own number and ran 38 yards to the end zone to pull Monty Tech to within 35-34 with 3:35 left.

Monty Tech's Pat Hall runs with the ball during first quarter action of Friday's game against Bay Path. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Gary Fournier)
Monty Tech’s Pat Hall runs with the ball during first quarter action of Friday’s game against Bay Path. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Gary Fournier)

Quinn then ran in the conversion run to give Monty Tech its first lead of the night at 36-35.

Unfortunately for the hosts, the Minutemen answered back an eight-play, 61-yard drive that was aided by a Monty Tech personal foul penalty. Bay Path’s Casey Gallagher muscled hisway across the goal line from a yard away to give Bay Path the lead back with 30 seconds left and Anthony Catino added a conversion run to make it 43-36.

Monty Tech had one last shot.

Setting up at their own 34 with 25 seconds left, the Bulldogs moved the ball to the Bay Path 37 with the help of a personal foul penalty on the Minutemen. With time for one more play, Quinn heaved a Hail Mary pass towards the right side of the end zone. Unfortunately, the ball was intercepted just shy of the goal line as the clock expired on the Bulldogs.

Monty Tech finished the evening with four costly turnovers.

The Bulldogs return to action on Friday night when Blue Hills Regional Tech makes the trip from Canton to Bulldog Field.

Bay Path travels to Blackstone Valley Tech in Upton next Saturday afternoon.

High School Football: Unbeaten Blue Devils hit the road

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It’s been a seemingly-impossible task for opposing programs to step up to this fall: what will it take to topple Leominster High on the gridiron?

First, teams have to contend with a nearly unstoppable offense. Then they have to deal with an impenetrable defense.

Add stellar coaching and smart decision making and the Blue Devils have been nothing short of a juggernaut in their three games this season. Having surrendered just six points while scoring 107 of its own, it’s pretty easy to see why Leominster is undefeated.

What isn’t as clear is how to put an end to its perfect mark.

Shepherd Hill will be the next to attempt to do so, welcoming the Blue Devils to Dudley tonight for a 7:30 kickoff.

The Rams are coming off their first win of the season, a 41-19 triumph over Fitchburg High at Crocker Field. They will have the unenviable task of trying to shut down a Blue Devils side that rolled to a 27-0 victory over Nashoba Regional last Friday at Doyle Field.

Leominster hasn’t allowed a point since the first quarter of its opener against Fitchburg, notching back-to-back shutouts against Doherty and Nashoba. And the Blue Devils and their wealth of offensive weapons haven’t hit any bumps in the road just yet, still firing on all cylinders.

It hasn’t seem to hit quarterback Osiris Lopez that he’s a freshman and first-year signal callers don’t usually have the composure he’s shown. Capable of running, he’s also been more than willing to get the ball into the hands of his big playmakers — seniors Ricky Encarnacion and Ma’Kai Stinson Newton and freshman Kaiden Drinkwater.

There’s talent everywhere for the Blue Devils. On both sides of the ball, in skill positions, on the line. You name it. Now it’s up to the rest of Central Mass. to figure out where the weakness is — if one exists — and to exploit it.

Good luck with that.

Tough ‘Dogs to top

At 3-0, the Monty Tech football team is proving to be difficult to slow.

The Bulldogs have posted some strong offensive showings in their perfect starts, but it’s the defense beginning to gel that should worry anyone lining up across from them. Monty Tech allowed 22 points in Week 1 before improving to just 18 allowed the following week and 13 last Friday.

A Bay Path team coming off back-to-back losses comes to Bulldog Field tonight, with the hosts aiming to stay perfect.

Spread the wealth

Ahead 22-0 over a young and inexperienced South Hadley side after one quarter last week, St. Bernard’s was able to use much of the second quarter and beyond as a dress rehearsal for some of the less seasoned players on its bench.

That’s not to say the Bernardians (1-2) mailed it in after the first quarter; rather, Jameson Williams and others were able to step into the spotlight for a bit as the hosts rolled to a 42-0 win at the Bernardian Bowl.

Coming off a thrashing of South Hadley, St. Bernard's heads to Leicester tonight. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)
Coming off a thrashing of South Hadley, St. Bernard’s heads to Leicester tonight. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)

For a team with limited numbers, getting a chance to see what’s on the bench and what the backups are capable of in game action without being forced to do so courtesy of an injury is big. Should either Damien Jones or Antonio Mancini go down at some point, Williams and the likes of Cole Blair showed they’re solid runners and capable of occasionally breaking a big run.

The Bernardians take their ground game on the road tonight to face Leicester (1-2).

Border war

North Middlesex, off to a 1-2 start, has a short road trip to neighboring Groton-Dunstable (3-0). Both programs are playing under new head coaches this season, but the school-next-door rivalry remains the same.

Games elsewhere

There are four other local games on the slate tonight, with an additional tilt tomorrow. In the “something has to give” category, 0-3 Fitchburg heads to Shrewsbury to take on St. John’s, which is also winless after a brutal trio of games to start the season.

Nashoba (1-2) heads to 0-3 Malden Catholic tonight, while 4-0 Latin Academy comes to Ashburnham to face host Oakmont Regional (1-2) and Lunenburg (1-2) hosts Littleton (1-2).

On Saturday, Ayer Shirley (2-1) heads north to square off with Gardner (1-2) in a 6 p.m. contest.

Local roundup: Patriots storm past Blue Devils

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In a battle of Central Mass. heavyweights, the North Middlesex Regional golf team topped Leominster, 35-19, at Northern Spy Golf Club.

Jake Miller earned medalist honors for North Middlesex (11-0), carding a 2-over 37, while Andrew Peterson and Shawn Amari each finished at 38. Max Caliri contributed a 39 for the Patriots.

Leominster (10-2) was paced by Colby Julsonnet’s 39.

Monty Tech 148, Keefe Tech 180 >> Michael Cannon carded an even-par 35 at Southboro Country Club as the Bulldogs improved to 7-0 on the season.

Shepherd Hill 44, Fitchburg 10 >> The Red Raiders fall to 1-7 after the loss at Dudley Hill Golf Course.

Ayer Shirley 52, Gardner 6 >> The Panthers improve to 6-2 with the victory at Gardner Municipal Golf Course.

Boys soccer

Leominster 2, BC High 1 >> Michael Halstead and Pablo Ruan Delphorno scored in the first half to rally the Blue Devils from a 1-0 deficit.

Fitchburg 2, Quabbin 2 >> Jarbin Martinez Diego and Giovanny Nunez netted goals for the Red Raiders (6-2-2).

Lunenburg 3, West Boylston 0 >> Chris Roy scored twice and Tim Smith added a goal as the Blue Knights took a 3-0 lead in the first 30 minutes and never looked back in the road victory. Cole Keefer had an assist in the victory.

North Middlesex 8, South Lancaster 0 >> Noah Bagley had two goals and two assists to lead the Patriots, while Marlon Artuso and Tyler Jastrab each added a pair of goals and an assist. Jack Harrington and Tristan Miner each potted single markers in the win.

Eliot Panaccione and Adam Ippolito split time in net to earn the shutout.

Parker 2, Monty Tech 0 >> Monty Tech falls to 0-4-1 on the season.

Girls soccer

Westboro 1, Leominster 0 >> The Blue Devils drop to 6-4 with the loss.

Quabbin 4, Fitchburg 0 >> The loss drops the Red Raiders to 0-8-1.

Parker 4, Monty Tech 0 >> The Bulldogs are now 2-5.

Field hockey

Monty Tech 4, Dracut 2 >> The win lifts the Bulldogs to 7-2-1.

Volleyball

Nashoba 3, Medfield 1 >> The Wolves (5-2) won by scores of 16-25, 25-19, 25-17 and 25-15.

Boys cross country

Lunenburg 18, Narragansett 45 >> Lunenburg’s Connor Martin won the race in 18.17 and Vinny Dellasanta was second. Zach MacLure, Nate Ayles, Simon Garcia and Matthew Pilon finished fourth through seventh, respectively, for the Blue Knights (2-2)

Girls cross country

Lunenburg 15, Narragansett 50 >> Lunenburg (4-0) had the top seven finishers in the race, leb by Abby Rodiquenz in 21:04.  She was followed by Evee Mabon, Lauren Long, Breanna Bajko, Iliana Thomas, Karynna Long and Angelina Brackett.

Grand opening held for Monty Tech’s new Freight Farm

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FITCHBURG — Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School hosted a grand opening on Sept. 16 for its Freight Farm, an 8-ton shipping container that will produce 1,450 heads of leafy greens each month to be used for the school’s cafeteria and culinary arts program as well as donated to the local community.

The hydroponic farm, a collaboration between Leominster nonprofit Growing Places and Monty Tech, was purchased with a $176,600 grant from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The shipping container is retrofitted with climate-controlled, water-based growing apparatus and is able to produce the equivalent of an acre’s worth of land using just a fraction of the water typically used to grow produce using conventional methods and will provide business, engineering, and environmental science curriculum opportunities for the students.

Local roundup: Blue Knights, Tigers play to draw

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The Lunenburg boys soccer team played to a 1-1 draw with visiting Littleton High on Monday evening at McCarron Turf Field.

Lunenburg improves to 3-2-2 with the draw, while Littleton is now 4-1-3.

Lunenburg’s Owen Tuttle put the hosts on the board during the 26th minute only to watch the Tigers’ Tyler Castillo answer seven minutes later to deadlock the score.

Lunenburg’s Bryce Whalen made five saves in the effort for the hosts.

Girls soccer

Leominster 3, South 0 >>  Patience Roberge netted a pair of goals and Shannon Smith added another for the Blue Devils at Doyle Field.

Sarah Potter and Jillian French each notched an assist in the win, while Abigail Goodwin earned the shutout.

Field hockey

Clinton 5, St. Bernard’s 1 >> The loss drops the Bernardians to 0-3.

Hudson 4, Fitchburg >> Ruby Reid’s hat trick wasn’t enough to lift the Red Raiders (3-2-1).

Golf

Nashoba 208, Marlboro 258 >> The Wolves (6-2) were paced by Troy Gregg’s 2-under 34 at Stow Acres.

North Middlesex 210, Shrewsbury 219 >> Max Caliri and Jake Miller carded 40s to lead the Patriots (7-0) to victory at The Haven Country Club.

Ayer Shirley 25.5, Littleton 18.5 >> Tommy Berlin and Sohil Patel had matching 3-over 38s to lead the Panthers (4-1) at Groton Country Club.

Monty Tech 175, Worcester Tech 205 >> Captain Michael Cannon earned medalist honors with a 3-over 39 on the back nine at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course to lead the Bulldogs (5-0).

Volleyball

Monty Tech 3, Abby Kelley 0 >> The win lifts the Bulldogs to 5-4.