METHUEN — The look of relief on longtime Central Catholic coach Chuck Adamopoulos’ face after Friday night’s heavyweight MVC bout with a very determined Methuen squad told the story, regardless of what the Nicholson Stadium scoreboard said.
“That was a hard game,” said Adamopoulos, shaking his head. “I know the score was 34-8, but that was a tough game. It was a physical game and they are a good football team.”
Leading just 7-0 at the half, the Raiders (5-1) scored twice in the third and two more times in the fourth quarter to finally silence the Rangers (4-2) in front of a large and lively crowd.
CC’s standout QB Ayden Pereira threw for a pair of TDs, including a back-breaking 97-yard throw to Matthias Latham (2 TDs) in the third quarter.
Looking for a third straight shutout, Central saw Methuen’s Drew Eason hit Braeden Carter late in the fourth to close out the scoring. Central has now allowed just two TDs in its last four games.
With Central clinging to a tenuous 14-0 lead, the game turned on two consecutive plays late in the third. Looking at a fourth-and-one on the Raiders’ three, the Central interior line rose to the challenge in a big way, stuffing Methuen and turning the ball back to Pereria and Co.
Pereira wasted little time finding Latham on a swing pass and the 185-pound back did the rest as he sprinted up the Central sidelines 97-yards for the score.
It was a seismic momentum shift to say the least and one that a game Rangers squad could never answer.
“It was just a little dump pass and he did the rest,” said Pereira of the play. “I think that was a real killer. It really stopped their momentum.”
After a scoreless first quarter that saw both defenses come up with huge stops deep in their own territory, Central finally got on the board midway through the second. After turning over the Rangers on downs on a drive that was prolonged by a roughing the kicker call, Pereira went to work quickly — very quickly — hitting a streaking Justice McGrail in stride down the Central sidelines for a 69-yard score with 6:29 to go in the half to make it 7-0. A 16-yard run up the middle made it 14-0 for the Raiders in the eventful third quarter.
“I’m proud of the kids and the way we responded in the third quarter,” said Adamopoulos.
The Rangers’ best chance to score in the first half saw Eason expertly drive them 57 yards to the Central 13 with 2:19 left in the half, but that’s just when Raiders’ junior linebacker Marcus Rivera decided to take things into his own hands.
On back-to-back plays Rivera sacked Eason for a seven-yard loss and then tipped away a sure TD strike to Braeden Carter at the last moment in the back of the endzone.
The Link LonkOctober 16, 2021 at 09:57AM
https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/10/15/central-catholic-methuen/
Central Catholic wins ‘hard game’ over Methuen, 34-8 - Boston Herald
https://news.google.com/search?q=hard&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment