RallyNorth.net

Lancers knock off unbeaten Reggies

Thursday, November, 22 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

ANDOVER — Funny thing about these Thanksgiving games ... the first quarter is just as important as the last.

Favored Lawrence High learned that lesson a year ago.

Yesterday, it was 10-0 Greater Lawrence Tech's turn.

Unbeaten and headed to the Eastern Mass. Division 3A playoffs next week, the Reggies absorbed an explosive Lancer flurry over the first 12 minutes. Racing to a quick 21-0 lead, Lawrence hung on, finishing the upset with a shoe-top tackle by Luis Nova to secure a 28-21 victory before about 600 noisy fans at Gleason Field.

With all but a handful of starters coming back, Lawrence ends its roller-coaster season at 3-8.

The Reggies (10-1) will represent the Commonwealth Conference large division Tuesday in the EMass semifinals against Cape Ann Small champ Amesbury.

"One more minute left and it might have been the difference," said Reggies coach Tony Sarkis, who saw the clock run out with his team inside Lancer territory. "We got beat by a good team. Their defense came to play. They took it to us and beat us.

"It shows a lot of character for our guys to come back and score 21 points and shut them down in the second. That shows they have character and that's a good sign."

The Lancers went with the "shock and awe" attack early, and the Reggies were helpless, at least for the first 12 minutes.

Out of the gate:

• Lawrence outgained the Reggies 122-34.

• Got a forced fumble and an interception by sophomore Harvey Blanco.

• Built a 21-0 lead as Ramon Heredia hit 3 of 4 passes for 59 yards and a TD. The junior also ran for a score, Lawrence's second of the game, from 17 yards out.

"We came out and scored on the first drive, and that takes a lot of weight off the defense, too," said Heredia, who finished the year with an even 1,600 yards and 11 TDs passing, completing 122 of 235 passes.

"My receivers came to play, like they do every game." All three contributed big plays.

Junior Demetri Brown caught four balls for 41 yards, including the opening TD on a 19-yard fade pass. Junior Alex Andrews added a pair of catches for 49 yards, plus a two-point catch, an interception and 11 tackles from his free safety spot. Senior Luis Nova, who came flying into the box all day defensively and was in on 10 tackles, added one back-breaking catch for 26 yards, setting up the second score.

Nate Adames (24 carries, 146 yards) set up the first Reggie TD, a Victor Sosa 3-yarder, with runs of 39, 9, 8 and 3 yards.

A 21-7 deficit would have been a lot more palatable, but Andrews' over-the-shoulder interception put Lawrence in business at the Reggies' 22 with 1:30 left before the half. From there, it was sophomore Devin Montanez, who dashed around right end on a 15-yard score to push the lead to 28-7 at the break.

"I'm just out there, trying to run my hardest," said Montanez, who earned his club's Robert Fitzgerald Sr. MVP Award with a pair of TDs and 95 yards on 17 carries. "They upset us last year, so this feels good."

You don't win league titles without heart, and the Reggies showed theirs with a relentless rally.

With Lancers like Nova, Donea Robinson and Edwin Vieira all over Adames, the Reggies had to look elsewhere for offense. They got it, with the running of quarterback Jonathan Delossantos (seven rushes for 82 yards).

Delossantos broke off a 54-yard TD keeper and then scored from a yard out to slice the lead to seven (28-21) with 7:13 left.

Montanez stepped up when it counted and Lawrence ate up clock and the Reggie timeouts with three first downs. Adames and Co. stiffened and had one final shot with a minute to play, only to see Adames — staring at open field — tripped up by Nova at midfield as time expired.

"We got the first downs when we needed them, and we got the win," said Lancer coach Mike Yameen. "They made plays, got that momentum shift back, and that's why they're a championship team. It's just a great win for us." Odds and ends