By Joe Kasper
The St. Mary’s football team continued their dominance last Friday night with a 44-0 home game win over Manchester Essex/Rockport, in the first round of the MIAA Division 7 North playoffs.
With 11 returning seniors, the Spartans are looking for revenge after a heartbreaking lost to East Bridgewater last year in the division 3A Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium. If Fridays game was any preview of what the Spartans have in store for this year’s playoff they very well may find themselves in the super bowl for the second straight year.
The Spartans came out hungry on Friday night. After losing the coin toss and kicking the ball off to Manchester, St. Mary’s defense opened up with a quick 4 stops and a huge tackle made by linebacker George Freeman that could be heard across the city.
After regaining possession on their opponent’s 20 yard line, quarterback Calvin Johnson, connected with Marlon Scott, for the Spartans first touchdown of the game. It took just one play for the Spartans to find the end zone and found themselves up early, 6-0.
It didn’t take long for the Spartans to get the ball back. On Manchester Essex’s next possession, James Brumfield was shot out of a cannon, intercepting a pass and taking it 49 yards to the house. After a successful 2 point attempt, the Spartans extended their lead to 14-0.
Once again the Spartans defense stopped Manchester right in their tracks and regained possession at the 49 yard line. On the second play of the drive, Calvin Johnson’s pass attempt was deflected and intercepted by Manchester Essex. It looked as if Manchester Essex was going to score but on 4th and 10 the Spartan’s defense brought pressure and with another big tackle by linebacker George Freeman, the Spartans regained possession, with 9:26 left in the first half. On the first play of the drive following that huge defensive stop, Johnson kept it himself for a 75 yard touchdown run.
Manchester drove right down the field for the second possession in row, but it was brought to an abrupt stop when senior Marlon Scott intercepted a slant pass with 30 seconds left in the first half. It seems as if once is in quarterback, Calvin Johnson’s hands something good is going to happen. On a quarterback keeper, Johnson ran it 49 yards for his second rushing touchdown of the contest, giving St. Mary’s a massive 30-0 lead at half time.
After receiving the ball to open the second half, the Spartans drove down the field again, but this time handed the ball off to the fullback, George Freeman. Freeman, who had a tremendous game on defense, took the handoff and pounded the ball in to make the score 36-0. A James Brumfield touchdown run was the icing on the cake that secured the Spartans 44-0 victory over Manchester Essex/Rockport in the first round of the MIAA Division 7 North playoffs.
The Spartans take on Greater Lawrence Tech at Manning Field this Friday (5:30p.)