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CAMBRIDGE — Greater Lawrence wide receiver Jake Barchard has caught plenty of passes during his high school varsity career but he never had rushed the football until last night.  

Barchard took his first ever varsity handoff 39 yards in for a touchdown during the first quarter to help the Reggies post a 14-0 victory over Cambridge here at Russell Field in Cambridge last night. 

"That first touchdown I got, we practiced it what? Like three times," Barchard said. "First time in a game ever doing it and it worked out. That was the first time I ever carried in a (varsity) game. We just practiced it to surprise them." 

Barchard, a junior, played running back on the freshmen team two years ago, but he has spent most of his varsity career as a receiver.  

"We saw that they (Cambridge) load 10 guys in the box or eight guys in the box right there and we ran a counter to his (Barchard's) side — a power to his side so we had action going to the left and we came off with a counter to the right and you saw that hole and how big it was," Reggies coach Tony Sarkis said. "Everybody made their blocks. It was perfect."  

The Reggies rushed the ball 43 times for 209 yards. 

Star running back Christian Rivera, who ran 29 times for 362 yards in Week One against Pope John XXIII, carried 33 times for 136 yards against Cambridge. Rivera scored the other Greater Lawrence touchdown, bringing it in from three yards out early in the fourth quarter.  

"They could hit," Rivera said about Cambridge. "They could hit. We did it little by little. We got the job done." 

The Reggies defense came up with some big stops and one big turnover. Angel Abreu forced a Cambridge fumble with 8:38 left in the fourth quarter and Greater Lawrence’s Nick Sosa recovered it. 

Meanwhile, Barchard and Carlos Aquino combined for a big sack late in the fourth. 

“On defense, we just came together as a team and just did what we needed to do,” Barchard said. “Coach said, ‘Rush in, Jake, rush in.’ And I did what he told me to do and I got the sack.”

Sosa added: “We were playing for Max (Montanez) — the kid who passed (away) on our team. He’s our inspiration. We keep going. Every time we’re on tough ground we just think about him and everybody just sticks together and pushes.”

Montanez was shot to death earlier this month.  

The Reggies do need to cut down on penalties. They committed 180 yards worth of penalties last night.  

“We could have definitely played better but we got it done,” Barchard said. “We got a lot of penalties. A lot. But after that, we just came together in the fourth quarter and Christian just did what he had to do. That’s run the ball.”  

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