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Greater Lawrence runs wild past Mystic Valley

Saturday, November, 05 By Jeff Hamrick

ANDOVER — The next time Mystic Valley goes looking for nonleague opponents, the Eagles might want to consider a replacement for Greater Lawrence.

The Reggies held Mystic Valley to negative 17 yards rushing and routed the visiting Eagles 42-6 yesterday afternoon.

But it was just another in a sting of Greater Lawrence routs. The two now have played in five of the past six years and the Reggies (7-2) have won all five by a combined 171-22 (34.2-4.4 per game). The Eagles (0-8) have not scored more than 8 points and been shutout twice in that span.

The rout was so complete, Greater Lawrence ran only four plays from its own territory: a 77-yard run by Christian Rivera from the 8 that set up the first touchdown; a 3-yard run on the final play of the first half; a 66-yard scoring run by Yamarco Guzman; and a 24-yard run by Nicholas Sosa.

Considering the Reggies have found yards tough to come by while splitting its previous two games against Commonwealth Conference opponents, yesterday’s drubbing might be what they need heading into the season’s final two weeks.

“I think (a game like this) is good,” Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis said. “The kids played well and they were focused. And they didn’t let down, which I think is important.

Greater Lawrence piled up 350 yards on 31 carries (11.3 yards per attempt). Despite being held to negative yardage on five of his 16 carries, Rivera ended up with 162 yards on 16 attempts. Even though both only had two carries, Nicholas Sosa racked up 71 yards and Yamarco guzman added another 69. The Reggies combined for eight carries of 17 yards or more and 10 of 10 or more.

“I just ran hard,” said Rivera, who now has 1,399 yards on 210 carries for the season. “And the offensive line opened up the holes.”

But it was the defensive front of  ends Ivan Montanez and Angel Abreu and tackles David Mota and Jean Garib that stymied the Mystic Valley offense. The Eagles’ anemic rushing totals were in large part to five sacks and Greater Lawrence had eight tackles for losses of 4 yards or more. Mystic Valley ran no plays from scrimmage in the third quarter.

“Our defense has been saving us,” Sarkis said. “This is our third shutout of the year. And that’s on my brother (defensive coordinator Dib Sarkis) and coach (Dave) Thompson.”