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Shawsheen stuns Greater Lawrence

Saturday, October, 22 By Jeff Hamrick

BILLERICA — Moments after yesterday afternoon’s game, Shawsheen coach Al Costabile told his team “for the first time in my life, I’m at a loss for words.”

You can be sure Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis had many choice words for his squad.

Shut out for more than 43 1/2 minutes, Shawsheen scored twice in 15 seconds, rallying past the penalty-prone Reggies for a 13-12 Commonwealth League victory.

Even though Greater Lawrence (5-2, 1-1) held the Rams to only 12 yards on 19 rushing attempts on the game and 32 total yards for more than 3 1/2 quarters, many had the sense that something eventually would go wrong for the Reggies.

“I had that feeling,” Sarkis said.

That’s because his Reggies were penalized 13 times for 103 yards. They also managed a mere 89 yards rushing of their own on 34 attempts (2.6 yards per carry). If it weren’t for a 53 yard second-quarter run by Jonathan Montero, the Reggies’ rushing totals would have been even more pitiful.

But Greater Lawrence held a 12-0 lead on a pair of long-range second-half touchdown passes from Yamarco Guzman to Jake Barchard.

The two hooked up for 92 yards on a play Barchard had three cut backs before scoring with 9 minutes left in the third. The two added a 75-yarder on a pass Barchard took at his own 35 before shaking off a defender with 7:56 left in the game.

But even with Barchard’s 202 yards on four receptions, the Reggies lived on the edge of disaster.
“This is horrible,” Barchard said. “We’re up by 12. It’s just horrible. It’s the worst feeling ever.”

That’s because the Rams, who were stymied on downs at the Greater Lawrence 5 with 1:48 left, finally got on the board with 27 seconds left on a 19-yard scoring pass. Then two plays after recovering the ensuing onside kick, Mike O’Hearn once again found a receiver in the end zone, this time with 12 seconds remaining.

“There were a lot of mistakes on both sides of the ball,” Sarkis said. “It was one of the worst possible games we could play. And that’s dangerous against a team that can throw the ball like that.”

Another bright spot for Greater Lawrence was linebacker John Augusta who had nine tackles, two interceptions and a sack.