FITCHBURG — A complete team effort for the St. Bernard’s football team Friday night.
Even though the Bernardians had fallen behind early to visiting Tyngsboro, but after a Harvey Earley, Jr. pick six to get the Blue and Gold on the board near the end of the first, the St. B’s offense and defense controlled things the rest of the way and soundly downed the Tigers, 41-19, on Senior Night at the Bernardian Bowl.
The win lifts the two-time defending Division 8 state championns to 4-0 in the pod, with West Boylston up next. The Bernies and Lions will play at Shrewsbury next Saturday at 2 p.m.
Tyngsboro, which had to play its third-string quarterback, Jimmy O’Keefe, for most of the second half following a re-aggravation of Tucker Carmichael’s knee injury and second-stringer Ryan Guilmette getting knocked out after getting picked off with 3:40 left in the first half, fell to 2-2.
Longtime Bernies coach Tom Bingham was pleased with the win.
“That’s kind of what we live by, right?” Bingham noted. “Something bad happens, how do we respond? They rallied, they didn’t panic, and settled right in and played St. Bernard’s football. We got better as the game went on.”
Tyngboro had held St. B’s on its first series and even took the lead as Carmichael, audibling “Ohio, Ohio” at the line of scrimmage, hit Justin Huberty 15 yards behind the St. Bernard’s secondary for a 79-yard TD to put the Tigers up, 6-0.
And after the Tigers sent the Bernies three-and-out on the next series, things looked a touch bleak, especially after Carmichael hit Zach Souza for a 35-yard gain on third down to inch closer to the red zone.
But a huge tackle for loss by Cameron Arakelian and Isaiah Jeffreys set up the pivotal second-and-20 play which saw Earley snatch Carmichael’s pass out of thin air at the Bernardian 34, before bringing it all the way to the house for the 66-yard pick six.
Vaughn Randle’s kick put St. Bernard’s ahead for good, 7-6.
“(Earley)’s in that strong safety spot, and take a look at that secondary: we’re all sophomores, and we’re just getting more comfortable as (the season) goes on. Harvey played with great confidence, he was very sure of himself, and the best of him is yet to come,” Bingham said.
After St. B’s sent Tyngsboro three-and-out, hearty carries by Tyler Thibodeau (123 yards on 14 carries, 3 TDs) saw the senior fullback use his brute strength and bull-like rushes to go off the right guard before cutting right in the open field and heading in from 19 yards away.
Randle’s right foot made it 14-6, St. Bernard’s.
Three plays after the re-start, Carmichael exited the game after a non-contact injury saw him hit the ground at the Tiger 15. He walked off under his own power.
Fast forward two drives, St. B’s took over at the Tiger 36 after Wyatt Bingham picked off Guilmette, and nine plays later, Thibodeau plunged in from a yard out just as time expired.
Penalties shot Tyngsboro in the foot on its first drive in the third, as a hold and a false start backed O’Keefe and the Tigers back to thrown 10. The next snap was poor, and the young QB couldn’t maintain a hold on the pigskin.
Earley pounced on the loose ball in the end zone, and St. Bernard’s had a 27-6 advantage.
Tyngsboro turned over on downs, and Thibodeau capped his night with a 32-yard TD run right up the middle.
“In the first 11 carries of the game, Tyler only touched the ball twice,” Bingham explained. “They had us in a situation we didn’t want to be in; we changed things up and got a second tight end in there and balanced us out, and we gave it to Tyler on the back side.”
Damien Jones (117 yards on 16 carries) scored from 83 yards away the next time the Blue and Gold had the ball, and St. Bernard’s led, 41-6.
Tyngsboro got back on the board when Tyler Ducharme (5 carries, 67 yards) swept the left and scored from 46 yards away.
The Tigers wrapped things up as O’Keefe found Tim Guilmette on a seven-yard scoring strike with five minutes left in the ballgame.
