GROTON – One of the youngest groups within the ISL is now maybe the crew to beat in one of many hardest leagues to win in Massachusetts.
On Friday evening at Lawrence Academy, St. Sebastian’s used a stingy protection and a few well timed massive performs on offense to upset the Spartans, 19-14, and with it assume management of the ISL race.
“Our defense has just been unbelievable all season,” Arrows coach Dan Burke mentioned. “They bend but don’t break and that was the case (Friday). We gave up some yards but made the plays when we needed them.”
The Arrows (5-0) pressured Lawrence into 4 turnovers and held the potent Spartans offense underneath 300 yards whole within the sport. Offensively, St. Sebastian’s settled for lots of little performs however it was one massive one late within the first half that turned the sport.
Trailing 7-0 and caught inside its 5 with simply 83 seconds left on the clock, the Arrows weren’t content material to run off the time regardless that they have been getting the ball to start the second half. Quarterback Ty Ciongoli (14-of 27, 192 yards) hit Tedy Frisoli for a ten yard achieve to present the Arrows some room to work with.
He adopted that with a 34-yard dart to Jack Quinn to maneuver the ball to the Spartans 49. One play later, he dumped off a display screen cross to operating again George Kirby, who weaved his method by means of the Lawrence protection and into the tip zone to tie the sport.
“Scoring at the end of the half was huge. We wanted to try and see if we could get something going and we got some field position that gave us a chance,” Burke mentioned.
The Spartans (4-1) moved the ball effectively at instances however self-inflicted wounds in the end proved to be their undoing.
On their first drive of the second half, quarterback Mike Landolfi (16 of 26, 182 yards) and operating again Gavin Hatfield (19 carries, 106 yards) helped transfer the ball to close midfield. But on a second and 10 on the 44, Landolfi was picked off by a diving Charlie Hoffman on the Arrows 48.
St. Sebastian’s wanted solely 4 performs to show the interception into the go-ahead rating. Ciongoli connected along with his brother Ace for a 31-yard achieve on third and 9. On the subsequent snap, Kirby raced round the suitable facet for a 21-yard rating and a 13-7 lead with :35 left within the third.
On the following drive, the Spartans confronted a fourth-and-one from the Arrows 41. They went for it as Hatfield carried however he was stripped of the ball attempting to succeed in for the marker. Jake Mulrey scooped up the ball and took it 60 yards to present the Arrows a 12 level lead with 9:54 to go.
The St. Sebastian’s protection took it from there. They pressured a turnover on downs on Lawrence’s subsequent drive after which picked off Landolfi for a second time with 2:54 to go.
The Spartans did get inside six within the ultimate minute when Landolfi hit Hatfield for an 11-yard landing with :36.7 left. But Quinn recovered the following onside kick to seal the win for the Arrows.
“We have such a great core of senior leaders that we can rely on,” Burke mentioned. “But we’ve never had so many young kids playing such big roles for this team. They are doing a fantastic job.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com