LEXINGTON STORMS TO MIDDLESEX LEAGUE TITLE; GETS REMATCH WITH ANDOVER IN FIRST ROUND OF PLAYOFFS
Woburn, MA. 10/20/17. Outright possession of their second straight Middlesex League Liberty Division football title was on the line Friday night, and the Lexington Minutemen left nothing to chance trouncing their host Woburn Tanners 52– 35 with a performance that spoke truth to their lofty ranking.
A happy coach George Peterson said, “This group of seniors did something tonight that hasn’t been done since 1985, repeating as league champions. It’s a huge thing for us.”
With the win Lexington not only seized the title but rolled into the play-offs undefeated at 7-0 with a two seed, their first playoff game at Harold Crumb Field and, best of all, a sweet opportunity for revenge against Andover, the team that eliminated them in overtime from last year’s tournament.
It was doubly satisfying to take the title at Woburn since Lexington had not won here in the entirety of Peterson’s tenure.
“Finally. Finally,” the coach exclaimed. “Seven years, and we probably played here thirteen or fourteen times because our field was being re-done. There’s been some heartbreak here, but not tonight.”
There was no doubt in this one. The Minutemen were all business.
They won the opening toss and, not unlike last week at Belmont, scored a mere minute later on their third play, senior co-captain Ben Quint’s 62 yard burst off right tackle on a third and one.
And they poured it on from there. After just a quarter and a half of play the lead had ballooned to 28-0 on the way to a halftime margin of 35-7 leaving no doubt about the final outcome.
The Lexington defense led by co-captain senior Jimmy Lane, junior linebacker Max Stevens and massive but mobile nose tackle senior Tenzin Pharachesur played a leading role again in the first half rout holding Woburn to one first down and forcing negative yardage on 8 of the host’s 22 first half offensive plays.
Stevens particularly was in the right place at the right time all evening recording 12 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble with a crunching hit on Woburn’s big running back senior Isaiah Cashwell-Doe.
Lexington’s second drive covered 73 yards in 8 plays and was a perfect example of the challenge defenses are presented when facing the Minuteman spread offense as it is so brilliantly engineered by senior co-captain quarterback Sal Frelick.
The drive was a mix of quarterback draws, play action runs, flanker screens and quick passes over the middle. Frelick ran for 17 yards on the drive and was 3 of 5 passing for another 51 yards, the final 5 coming on a crossing route to sure handed junior Tony Bianchi.
Most of the damage on the drive was done by Bianchi, who took a pass in the right flat and turned it into a 30-yard gain to the Woburn 5. The play was designed to get Bianchi free in space with Lane, an outstanding open field blocker, clearing the way. Lexington ran the play repeatedly with great success, and Bianchi submitted another big performance grabbing eight passes for 113 yards.
Down 28-0, Woburn finally broke through. Cashwell-Doe returned another booming kick-off from Lexington junior Spencer Hewitt 40 yards to midfield. A personal foul penalty on Lexington moved the ball to the Minuteman 35. On fourth down from the Lexington 30, Woburn ran a flea flicker. The Lexington defense completely bought the faked run and Tanner junior quarterback Ryan Qualey hit senior receiver Ryan Getherall, who was all by himself at the goal line for Woburn’s only score of the half.
However, it took Lexington only six plays in 90 seconds to answer with a 62-yard drive in the closing minutes of the half. Frelick connected with Quint on a pass in the right flat at the Woburn 21. Quint made a fingertip catch, steadied himself and took it the rest of the way bringing the score to 35-7 after Hewitt’s fifth straight extra point.
Woburn came out rejuvenated in the second half, but despite scoring 28 points never threatened seriously as Lexington continued to score as well.
The Tanners were led by Qualey’s passing, two touchdown receptions by Tyler Parrish and consistent running from senior Dustin Burkle and junior Ryan Ludwig.
Parrish’s first touchdown opened the second half on a 64-yard fly pattern down the left sideline. The junior receiver made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch with Lexington corner junior Jack Marcin literally in his shirt, managed to shake free and carry it in from the Lexington 30.
The Tanners actually did a decent job of containing Frelick, if running for three touchdowns and passing for three more can be considered containment. On the night the legitimate contender for player of the year ran 15 times for 90 yards and completed 16 of 25 passes for 173.
Quint carried only 6 times but for 98 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 25 yards and two more scores.
After the game Peterson told his team, “We accomplished our first goal. You can celebrate over the week-end, but come in Monday ready to go. We’ve got some serious work ahead of us.”
When asked if he had a preference on his first round playoff opponent he answered, “I don’t care who we get, but we’d love to have another crack at Andover.”
Peterson and his Minutemen got their wish. Friday night, 7pm. Harold Crumb Field.