SHREWSBURY – An extended bus journey and a midday begin may usually result in dangerous issues for a highway workforce. But on Saturday at Pioneer Field, that didn’t occur to No. 3 Central Catholic.
The Raiders received three first-half landing passes from quarterback Blake Hebert together with 101 speeding yards and two touchdowns from Markys Bridgewater en path to a 34-0 halftime lead and an eventual 34-16 win over the Pioneers.
“Saturday games can be a little difficult sometimes,” Raiders coach Chuck Adamopoulos stated. “We had a long ride and were coming off a big win but the guys played very well against a good team.”
The Raiders (2-1) dominated on either side of the ball for many of the first half as neither workforce may get a foothold throughout an change of punts. That’s when the Central Catholic particular groups unit got here up with a giant play as Bobby Ayotte recovered a muffed Mike Ryan punt on the Pioneers 17.
On the following snap, Hebert and Bridgewater almost had a mix-up on a handoff, leading to a bobble that Bridgewater regained and become a landing and a 7-0 Raiders lead.
Defense continued to rule via a lot of the remaining a part of the quarter till the Raiders quarterback made a pair of giant performs to assist double the lead. Hebert scrambled for 17 yards on a third-down play earlier than he struck once more following an unlawful block penalty by hitting Preston Zinter for a 42-yard landing and a 14-0 lead after one.
“Blake really made some nice throws and had that big run along our sideline,” Adamopoulos stated. “He is a talented kid and it’s only his first year as a starter. He’s only going to get better.”
The Raiders added to their lead early within the second as they wanted solely 4 performs to drive 37 yards, capped by a superb advert lib from Hebert that noticed him scramble round within the backfield earlier than hitting Mason Bachry behind the tip zone for a 12-yard rating.
St. John’s drove into Raiders territory on the following possession however a false begin penalty on fourth and one on the Central 38 resulted in a punt that put the ball contained in the 15. That proved to be no concern for the Raiders as Bridgewater took a primary down handoff and dashed 77 yards up the intestine for his second rating and a 27-0 lead after a missed additional level.
Things solely went from dangerous to worse for the Pioneers on the following kick off when Central recovered Ryan’s squib kick on the St. John’s 31. Hebert promptly discovered Zinter for a 20 yard achieve after which capped a dominant first half for the Raiders with a seven yard display screen cross TD to Ryan.
“We played a really good first half and were able to take their crowd out of the game a little bit,” Adamopoulos stated.
Neither workforce received on the board within the third quarter earlier than the Pioneers broke the shutout with 7:46 to go on Ben Wing’s one-yard plunge. Logan Mercer ran within the two-point conversion earlier than Ron Burton’s 9 yard run and a Gavin Spring rush closed out the scoring with 1:34 to go.
Source: www.bostonherald.com