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Marlboro stifles Central's offense

Friday, September, 11 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

MARLBORO — The weather conditions got worse late in the fourth quarter last night, but they were pretty dreary all night long for the Central Catholic offense.

Operating against an experienced Marlboro club, the Raiders managed only six first downs and 87 yards of offense in a 14-0 setback.

Senior quarterback Andrew Ouellette (7 carries, 28 yards) had some success on keeper plays, but Marlboro pretty much shut everything else down.

“We couldn’t sustain anything and our blocking wasn’t very good,” said Central coach Chuck Adamopoulos. “They’re a good, veteran team and they deserved to win.”

The Central defense, led by linebackers Zack Lattrell and Zac Borrelli and lineman Pat Driscoll played well for most of the game and — with the aid of some good fortune — kept the game scoreless until late in the third quarter.

Until that point, Marlboro had two touchdowns — a 16-yard double reverse in the second quarter and an 82-yard kickoff return to start the second half — nullified by penalties.

But, following the second penalty, the Panthers put together a nifty 74-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead, the final of 15 plays coming on an 11-yard slant pass from A.J. Scerra to Evan Purvis.

On the ensuing kickoff, Marlboro booted a short floater to the sidelines and easily recovered the ball on the Central 38. Four plays later, the Panthers scored again, on a 9-yard scamper by Scerra, to make it 14-0. That proved to be more than enough for the victory.

Paced by A.C. Carter (16 carries, 114 yards), Marlboro outrushed Central 220-72 and also held an advantage (58-15) through the air.

With 16 starters back from a 5-6 club, Marlboro was already optimistic about the season, but it’s even more upbeat now.

“We saw them (Central) in a scrimmage against BC High and we were impressed,” said Marlboro coach Sean Mahoney. “This is a big win for us, against a MVC team, and it gives us credibility and hopefully some momentum.”