|
SCOREBOARD SHS -28 vs Burncoat-14 |
SCOREBOARD SHS -27 vs Doherty-7 |
SCOREBOARD SHS -28 vs Milford-14 |
SCOREBOARD SHS -24 vs Fitchburg-21 |
SCOREBOARD SHS -21 vs Westfield-17 |
team photo by Pete Cavanna of Cavanna Photography
|
Shrewsbury senior running backAlex Alvarez is tackled in the end zone byFitchburg’s Joel Gomez afterscoring oneof his three TDs. (T&G Staff Photos/JIM COLLINS) |
Shrewsbury’s Paul Tizzano kicks the winning field goal from 39 yards out with 48 seconds left. |
above-Shrewsbury quarterback Jawad Yatim celebrates during the Colonials’ 21-17 win over
Westfield in the Division 1A Super Bowl. (T&G Staff/TOM RETTIG)
Above-The Colonials Celebrate there undefeated Season with a Super Bowl win.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
PERFECTION!
Colonials complete comeback, finish 13-0
By Chad Garner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER— Shrewsbury High had been in several pressure-packed situations
this season. But none were
bigger than the one the Colonials faced during yesterday’s
Division 1A Super Bowl.
Trailing, 17-8, in the fourth quarter, Shrewsbury didn’t push the panic
button. Instead, it scored two touchdowns in
a span of 2-1/2 minutes — sparked by the game-changing recovery of a short kickoff — en route to a heart-stopping,
21-17 victory over Westfield High at Worcester State College.
“We knew that if this game was going to come down to the end, we’d
pull through because our team usually comes
through in the second half,” Colonials linebacker Shawn Loiseau said. “We’re a second-half team, and we’ve been like
that this whole year.”It appeared Westfield was going to ruin Shrewsbury’s perfect season — the first 13-0 mark in
Central Mass. history — when the Bombers capitalized on an interception by Robert Larose and turned it into a
17-8 lead after bruising fullback Ryan Veillette (21 carries,
107 yards, two TDs) rumbled 31 yards for a touchdown.
But the Colonials hung tough and put together their best drive of the game
— a 15-play march that senior running back
Alex Alvarez (14 carries, 51 yards, TD) capped with a 3-yard run. Paul Tizzano’s PAT cut the deficit to 17-15 with
3:36 left.
The key play came on fourth down at the 29, where quarterback Jawad Yatim
connected with receiver Keith Kittleson
for 15 yards and a first down at the 14.
“We’ve got such a tight bond. We knew that we could count on each
other to make plays, like we have all season,
” said Yatim, who was 7 of 17 for 172 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. “When I hit Keith on fourth
down — he’s been my best friend since second grade — I knew I could count on him. He got open and made the play.
That proves how chemistry can come a long way in the game.”
On the ensuing kickoff, Shrewsbury elected to pooch kick down the near sideline.
Tizzano’s kick bounced high off the
turf and into the arms of teammate Anthony Wright at the Westfield
34.
“They left a bunch of gaps open on the side, so l just made the decision
to just try and pooch it over there,” Tizzano said.
“Luckily, the turf helped it to bounce up, so we were able to hop on it and get the ball and go down and win. I knew
right there, we weren’t going to lose — it was in
our hands, we had the game.”
“Anthony Wright made a great play — that was the key to the game,”
Shrewsbury coach Terry Walles said.
From the 34, Alvarez bolted 15 yards around the left side to the 19. Five
plays later, on third-and-goal, Yatim followed
his linemen on a 1-yard keeper for the TD and a 21-17 lead
with 1:06 left.
Westfield, which hadn’t thrown a pass to that point, then replaced starter
Cliff Laraway with Cam Collins. After the
Bombers advanced to midfield with 12 seconds left, Collins was picked off by Michael Okayka with 2 seconds left,
sparking a wild celebration on the Shrewsbury sideline.
The Colonials turned the ball over twice to start the second half. The first
came when Mohamed Yatim caught a
56-yard pass, but fumbled while being tackled at the Westfield
15.
“We did some things that we haven’t been doing all season, we
turned the ball over a little bit,” Walles said.
On the next drive, Jawad Yatim was picked off when he threw to Kittleson,
who was hit hard and the ball popped
up and into the arms of Westfield’s Jack Dunphy at the Westfield 3. Shrewsbury’s defense answered the call, though,
when Tizzano jumped on a loose ball after Veillette coughed
it up at the Westfield 33.
Westfield took the game’s opening drive to the Shrewsbury 15, but had
to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Collins.
Shrewsbury took its first lead in the second quarter. Jawad Yatim zipped a
throw to Okayka at midfield, and the
wideout slipped two defenders before racing down the sideline. He got a nice block from Mohamed Yatim at the
10 and cut back inside for a 57-yard TD. Jawad Yatim’s
2-point run gave the Colonials an 8-3 lead.
But Westfield’s ball-control offense, which ran 31 plays to Shrewsbury’s
12 in the first half, then went 60 yards on
11 plays, capped by Veillette’s 1-yard TD run. Laraway added the conversion run as the Bombers led, 11-8, at the half.
Shrewsbury 21, Westfield 17
WESTFIELD (8-4)
3 8 0 6—17
SHREWSBURY (13-0)
0 8 0 13—21
Westfield — Cam Collins 32 field goal
Shrewsbury — Michael Okayka 57 pass from Jawad Yatim (Yatim rush)
Westfield — Ryan Veillette 1 run (Cliff Laraway run)
Westfield — Veillette 31 run (rush failed)
Shrewsbury — Alex Alvarez 3 run (Paul Tizzano kick)
Shrewsbury — Yatim 1 run (pass failed)
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Super effort gives Shrewsbury a perfect season
(T&G Staff / TOM RETTIG)
WORCESTER— The undefeated Shrewsbury High School football team celebrates
after rallying for a 21-17
victory over Westfield in the Central/Western Mass. Division 1A Super Bowl yesterday at Worcester State College.
The Colonials finish the season with the first 13-0 record in Central Mass. history. Coverage of all the Super Bowls
begins in Sports.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
PERFECT SEASON: Colonials win Super Bowl!
Shrewsbury 21, Westfield 17
DIVISION 1A SUPER BOWL
By Chad GarnerWORCESTER— Shrewsbury quarterback Jawad Yatim snuck into
the end zone with 1:06 left after
the Colonials scored and recovered the ensuing kick with 3:34 to go as Terry Walles' team became the first 13-game
winner in Central Mass. history with a 21-17 win over Westfield in the Division 1A Super Bowl this afternoon at
Worcester State College.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Colonials seek to finish perfect run
By Chad Garner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFFSHREWSBURY— They are brothers
on and off the field, and
Shrewsbury’s four senior linebackers — Shawn Loiseau, Ray St. Laurent, Zach Beach and Phil Entwistle — hope to
share another lifelong memory with each other and the rest of
the football program.
That would come in the form of a perfect 13-0 season and a Central/Western
Mass. Division 1A Super Bowl championship.
“In and out of school, we’re pretty much brothers, we’re
always there for each other,” Loiseau said.The last team
standing in the Colonials’ way of perfection is Westfield. The two teams meet at 12:30 p.m. today at Worcester
State for the top prize in Division 1A.
“This last game means a lot to us — 12-1 is not going to cut it
for us,” Beach said. “We need a win, we need to
get that Super Bowl under our belt because it’s time for a new era. All we listened to before was the 2000 team
that won the Super Bowl, so it’s time to bring coach (Terry)
Walles a new era for him to talk about.
“This Super Bowl win and a perfect season would show people that Shrewsbury’s
back and we’re not just a falloff team.”
Walles’ base 4-3 defense is designed to showcase the play of his exceptional
linebackers. When there’s a play to
be made, you can bet the linebacking corps will be swarming
to the football and be in on a tackle.
“Our defense starts with our linebackers and end with our linebackers,”
Walles said.
Loiseau (team-leading 122 tackles), an all-star, is the unquestioned superstar
of the defense. But this team, which
has allowed seven points or fewer in seven games, isn’t
a one-man show.
“The defense is built around Shawn, he’s a real great player,
and he makes a lot of our tackles,” St. Laurent said.
“But everyone else has come together to make the plays
that need to be made when he’s not there.”
Westfield coach William Moore also had high praise for Loiseau and the Shrewsbury
defense.
“(Loiseau’s) a big dude,” Moore said, “but I think
they play very good team defense.”
Loiseau is a relentless sideline-to-sideline ’backer, who makes tackle
after tackle and must be accounted for on every
play. Beach is a vocal leader who is smart and solid in pass coverage. St. Laurent also is a heady player that Walles
says “can smack.”
When Beach (4 sacks) was hurt earlier this season, Entwistle filled ink, and
Shrewsbury didn’t miss a beat. He’s also
an ace on special teams.
These linebackers and the rest of the defense know they’ll need to rise
to the occasion again when they face a strong
Bombers offense. Westfield’s offense revolves around bruising senior fullback Ryan Veillette (1,383 yards, 17 TDs),
along with running backs Tim Gaylord (440 yards, 3 TDs), Brad Mulville and Corey Bellamy. Quarterback
Cliff Laraway runs the option offense.
“We believe if we can shut their quarterback and their fullback down,
we have the game,” Entwistle said. “But we
have to come to play.”
Meanwhile, Shrewsbury’s offense also is powerful. The Colonials are
very balanced, both running and throwing the
football. When the Colonials decided to attack on the ground, senior Alex Alvarez (1,173 yards rushing, 14 TDs) is
a threat to take it the distance every time he touches the ball. In the passing game, senior Jawad Yatim is a strong-armed
quarterback, who makes good decisions with the football and knows who to get the ball to for big plays. Yatim
(1,509 yards passing, 12 TDs) is also blessed with several standout receivers, highlighted by speed burner
Michael Okayka, Paul Tizzano and Mohamed Yatim.
“We’ve got a good defense, but our offense steps up in big games,”
Beach said. “Our offense is incredible.
We’ve got a good quarterback, a nice running back, we’ve got our receivers, and our offensive line does a
great job. As far as I’m concerned, they’re No.
1, and they’re unstoppable … I wouldn’t want to face them
as a defense.”
The Colonials hope to band together one last time to bring a Super Bowl title
back to Shrewsbury High for the
first time since 2000.
“When you’ve earned 12 wins like we have, it’s kind of special,”
Walles said. “I told these kids, ‘If you win on
Saturday, you’ll be 13-0, and if they don’t change the playoff format, that will be the best record. No team will
ever be able to break that, maybe tie it.’ I’m really happy with the way it’s all ended up. I couldn’t be more pleased.”
Colonials walk off as No. 1 in CMass T&G Football
champions
By Jim Wilson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
jimwilson@telegram.com
When the Shrewsbury football team walked off Commerce Bank Field at Foley
Stadium on Tuesday night,
enjoying a hard-fought, 24-21, win over Fitchburg, the undefeated Colonials felt that unofficially made them the
best team in Central Mass.
Now the final Telegram & Gazette Media Poll gives that theory some credence,
as Shrewsbury is the unanimous
choice for the No. 1 team in Central Mass.
“It’s a good thing for Shrewsbury High School, especially after
such a great fall with field hockey and
girls’ soccer,” Shrewsbury coach Terry Walles said. “The credit goes to my players and assistant coaches
for hanging in there. We had a lot of struggles and a lot of close games we had to find a way to win.
We’re pretty proud of that.”In addition to its win over the Red Raiders, Shrewsbury also won games
against St. John’s, Marlboro, St. Peter-Marian, Auburn, Algonquin and Doherty — all of which
spent time ranked in the poll. The Colonials play Westfield (8-3) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at
Worcester State College in the Division 1A Super Bowl.
If Shrewsbury wins, it will mark the first time in school history the football
team has posted an undefeated,
untied season. The Colonials went 9-0-1 in 1946 under coach
Frank Bergstrom.
The playoff victory knocked Fitchburg from its perch as the No. 1 team. It
was the second loss in a row for
the Red Raiders, who fell to Leominster on Thanksgiving, 14-13. It would have been Fitchburg’s fifth time
finishing at the top of the poll.
St. John’s started the season ranked No. 1 in the poll, while Fitchburg
was at No. 3 and Shrewsbury at
No. 10. After the first weekend of action, the Pioneers stayed on top, sharing top votes with the No. 2
Red Raiders while the Colonials moved up to No. 4.
The votes largely stayed the same until Shrewsbury upended St. John’s,
27-25, in Week 4. That pushed the
Red Raiders to the No. 1 spot and the Colonials went to No.
2 while St. John’s slipped to No. 4.
In Week 5 Fitchburg fell to Brockton, but remained atop the poll despite Shrewsbury
edging the Red Raiders,
5-4, in No. 1 votes (Leominster, 4-1 at the time, had the other one). Shrewsbury and Fitchburg tied in the
voting the next week, but in Week 7 the Red Raiders reclaimed
the throne until this week.
“I’d rather be the No. 1 team at the end of the season than at
the beginning of the season,” Walles said.
Walles remembers falling short of the top ranking a few times during Shrewsbury’s
better seasons.
The Colonials went 10-2 in 1999, but lost out to 11-1 Nashoba. The following season Shrewsbury finished
11-1 but couldn’t nip 12-0 Fitchburg, and in 2001 the Colonials finished 9-2, but the Pioneers went 11-0 to
take the top spot.
This year Shrewsbury made sure there was no doubt.
The list of teams that finished the season ranked No. 1 in the Telegram &
Gazette Media Poll.
Tizzano kick keeps Shrewsbury perfect
By Jim Wilson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
jimwilson@telegram.com
WORCESTER— Despite being undefeated, Shrewsbury High has felt throughout
the season that it was
playing second fiddle to Fitchburg High.
That shouldn’t be a problem anymore.
The Colonials’ Paul Tizzano booted a 39-yard line-drive field goal with
48 seconds left, and senior linebacker
Shawn Loiseau batted down a pass as time expired as Shrewsbury downed the Red Raiders, 24-21, in a Division
1A playoff thriller last night at Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium.“I was hoping I could help my team win
and I was thankful it went through,” Tizzano said. “(The game) was going back and forth and we kept answering
each other, so when it got down below two minutes, I knew there
was going to be a chance I had to kick.”
The Colonials (12-0) continue their quest for the first perfect season in
school history against Westfield High at
12:30 p.m. Saturday at Worcester State College in the Division
1A Super Bowl. Fitchburg finished 9-3.
“That’s the Super Bowl matchup right there,” said Shrewsbury
running back Alex Alvarez, who scored three
touchdowns. “That’s the No. 1 and No. 2 team in
Central Mass. playing, and that’s the way it should be.”
After the Red Raiders tied it, 21-21, with 6:06 remaining on a 1-yard run
by Jeremy Kimber, the Colonials took
over on their own 31. Shrewsbury moved the ball downfield on a 10-yard run by Alvarez and a pair of
Jawad Yatim passes to Michael Okayka and cousin Mohamed Yatim
to put the ball at the Fitchburg 19.
Jawad Yatim tried a draw up the middle, but it was stuffed for a 3-yard loss
by Ryan Robar. The added distance
didn’t make any difference to Tizzano, who booted his
second field goal of the season right through the middle.
“We’ve had some doozies this year, but it doesn’t get any
better than that one,” Shrewsbury coach Terry Walles
said. “Tizzano — what a money player to kick that
field goal.”
Kimber, who threw one touchdown pass but also was picked off in the end zone
by Michael Okayka, nearly
brought Fitchburg back, finding Greg Mendez for a 25-yard gain. Four plays later, facing first-and-15 at the
Shrewsbury 33, Fitchburg snapped to backup quarterback Eric Dion, who hit Orlando Anderson along the
right sideline with a backward screen pass. Anderson tried to find Josh Less in the end zone, but his pass
was knocked down by Loiseau, starting the Shrewsbury celebration.
“I thought (Shrewsbury) did a great job and I thought we played hard,”
Fitchburg coach Ray Cosenza said.
“I am really happy with our effort. Our kids played their hearts out. I’m very, very proud of them. We played
without some key guys, but our kids played their tails off.
I’m very proud of them.”
Senior running back Johnny Gomez was one of those key guys missing. The leading
rusher in Central Mass.
scored Fitchburg’s first touchdown on a 5-yard run and gained 29 yards on five carries before leaving at the
end of the first quarter with an injured hamstring.
“That changed everything for us,” Loiseau said. “They couldn’t
run outside on us and he couldn’t bounce it,
so it slowed them down for us and they had to pass more. Luckily,
we came out with the win.”
Meanwhile, Shrewsbury benefited from the return of Alvarez, who suffered a
mild concussion in the
Thanksgiving game against Milford. Alvarez, who said he was cleared to play at the last minute, rushed 18 times for
101 yards and scored on runs of 9, 27 and 18 yards for the Colonials.
“It was awesome to have him back,” Loiseau said. “You saw
the impact he has on our offense when he’s in there.
He can run outside and (other teams) don’t know what we have with ’ol Scamper over here. Now everyone
really knows who the No. 1 team in Central Mass. is. We just proved it right here. They were No. 1, and now we are.”
Shrewsbury 24, Fitchburg 21
FHS (9-3)
7 0 7 7—21
SHR (12-0)
7 0 7 10—24
Fitchburg — Johnny Gomez 5 run (Luke Arno kick)
Shrewsbury — Alex Alvarez 9 run (Paul Tizzano kick)
Shrewsbury — Alvarez 27 run (Tizzano kick)
Fitchburg — Josh Less 22 pass from Jeremy Kimber (Arno kick)
Shrewsbury — Alvarez 18 run (Tizzano kick)
Fitchburg — Kimber 1 run (Arno kick)
Shrewsbury — Tizzano 39 field goal
Shrewsbury wins (yet another) thriller
By Jim Wilson
jimwilson@telegram.com
They’re 12-0, but not to many of Shrewsbury’s wins have come easily.
Tonight’s 24-21 win over Fitchburg was no different.
Prior to the game I said Fitchburg could have an advantage in the air, as
receivers Orlando Anderson and Josh Less
seemed to be poised to give Shrewsbury’s defensive backs Paul Tizzano and Michael Okayka a hard time.
Of course, both had a big hand in the Colonials’ victory.
Tizzano booted a game-winning 39-yard field goal with 48 seconds left while
Okayka intercepted a pass in the
end zone in the second quarter to keep it a 7-7 game. So much for me having my finger on the pulse of
Central Mass. football.
For all those fans that were upset over missing a St. John’s/Shrewsbury
rematch in the postseason, the
Fitchburg/Shrewsbury game was just as amazing. This was a game the Colonials wanted, as all season long
Shrewsbury was No. 2 in the T&G poll (aside from one week when the teams tied for the top spot), while
Fitchburg was No. 1.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was one of those stubborn voters who
had the Red Raiders No. 1 since
the preseason poll (sorry, Terry). I just felt Fitchburg played a tougher schedule with games in their division
as well Brockton. I did, however, pick the Colonials in all their 12 games – including “upsets” over St. John’s
and Fitchburg.
Fitchburg was banged up coming in to the game and was dealt a big blow when
Johnny Gomez, the leading
rusher in Central Mass., went down with a hamstring injury. Shrewsbury linebacker Shawn Loiseau told me it
changed the complexion of the game. Now Fitchburg was forced to rely on Matt Fraticelli and junior
Greg Mendez to carry the load. Both are capable backs, but they’re
not as dynamic as Gomez.
Just an aside, since I get asked this a lot – Loiseau, Milford’s
Nick DiAntonio and Leominster’s Alex Alcala are
the three best linebackers in Central Mass. Southbridge’s
Tyler Ramsey is the best player. There. I said it.
Shrewsbury’s Alex Alvarez came back from a slight concussion on Thanksgiving
and was outstanding against
Fitchburg. He started off a little slow, but scored on a 9-yard
toss left to make it 7-7.
Fitchburg drove down to the Shrewsbury goalline with about four minutes left.
First and goal from the 4 saw
Mendez stuffed by two Shrewsbury defenders at the 3-yard line. Fitchburg QB Jeremy Kimber and Fraticelli
missed the handoff on second down, but Frat fell on it to set up third down from the 3. Kimber took the snap
and pump faked to his left for a quick pass, but that was all the time David Johnson needed to drop him for a
4-yard loss. On fourth down Kimber dropped back to pass and tried to find Anderson in the back of the end
zone, but Okayka stepped right in front of it for a touchback.
HUGE play.
The Colonials went on a 6-minute drive to eat up most of the 10-minute third
quarter, culminating in Alvarez
scoring up the middle from 27 yards out. However Fitchburg answered in four plays when Kimber hit Less in
stride down the right sideline for a 22-yard touchdown.
Shrewsbury got a big runback on a squib kick by Phil Entistle to bring the
ball to the Fitchburg 46. Four plays later
Alvarez made two quick cuts en route to a 18-yard touchdown
to make it 21-14.
Fitchburg then drove 63 yards in 13 plays before Kimber snuck in from 1-yard
out to tie the game. Shrewsbury
took over with 6:01 left and quarterback Jawad Yatim hit Okayka and cousin Mohamed Yatim with two big passes,
which eventually set up Tizzano’s heroics. The junior calmly drilled a 39-yard line drive kick to put Shrewsbury
up. 24-21.
Fitchburg tried to rally and Kimber hit Mendez for a 25-yard gain and then
later found Less for a 9-yard gain to
set up first and 10 at the Shrewsbury 28. The Red Raiders tried a trick play at the end, snapping the ball to
backup QB Eric Dion, who sent a backward screen pass to Anderson on the right sideline. Anderson tried to
find Less in the end zone, but Loiseau and two other defenders were there at the line to make sure the pass fell
to the ground.
Great game – marred at the end by pushing and shoving that eventually
developed into a small cluster of flare-ups.
I’m sure both teams blame the other for starting it up – and for the record, I didn’t see what happened. I’m sure
Shrewsbury would have rather celebrated its win with fans on
the field rather than in the parking lot in the bus.
Great crowd tonight, although officials told me everyone arrived at the same
time and that created a HUGE line
at the ticket office. With just two windows, most fans missed Gomez’s touchdown to start the game after an
outstanding 63-yard kickoff return to start the game by Anderson.
It will be interesting to see how many people show up to see Saturday’s
game against Westfield at Worcester State.
I was talking to a few coaches this week and they think the dropoff could be so big (think half) that the MIAA might
reconsider having Central/Central Super Bowls throughout the
playoffs.
That would be something I would enjoy. I used to think a Central/West Super
Bowl was a good thing – it’s the
closest thing to being a state champion we’re going to see without getting rid of Thanksgiving games. However
if the Central/West winner isn’t going to play Eastern Mass., what’s the sense? For years EMass. winners have
called themselves the state champs and the Central/West winner
is always thought of as No. 2.
Me? I’d much rather see Shrewsbury/Leominster than Shrewsbury/Westfield.
Ho-hum. Even the players I spoke
to after the game felt THIS was their Super Bowl – which is what one coach griped about when I spoke to him
about the playoffs in August. It’s such an emotional letdown after leaving it all on the field on Tuesday. Now you
have to face a team, quite frankly, you could care less about beating. I’m sure Northbridge players don’t even
know or care where Wahconah is much less what offense they run. Who knows, maybe that will change in the future
. I’ve officially changed camps on that issue. Central/Central
all the way.
Also, before I call it a night, I wanted to tip my hat to Leominster’s
John Dubzinski for winning his 200th game tonight.
He kept it quiet (I actually had him at 199 before I double checked the math). The interesting part of all this? His brother
Walter has 199. Both great guys and I wish them nothing but the best of luck in the future.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
No. 2 Colonials clinch
By Mike Grimala CORRESPONDENTSHREWSBURY—
Shrewsbury High coach Terry Walles stood at
midfield after his team’s win over Doherty High last night, cold and wet thanks to a Gatorade dousing, trying to
explain how the Colonials got here.
“Before the season, I was telling people that I thought we could be
good,” Walles said. “But you never expect this.”
Walles was referring to a 10-0 record, the Division 1 East championship, and
a playoff berth that Shrewsbury’s
27-7 victory clinched.The coach mentioned some close games, some improbable wins, and the fortune that has
been involved in the magical run. But make no mistake about
it — second-ranked Shrewsbury is good.
The Colonials proved it again in the second half against the Highlanders,
turning a close game into a blowout win
that allowed the senior starters to stalk Walles on the sideline
with two minutes remaining, water cooler poised.
The game was tied, 7-7, entering the third period, but Shrewsbury took command
immediately. Senior Alex Alvarez
fielded the opening kick, faked a reverse handoff, and streaked
70 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown.
The play was executed flawlessly with a pack of five blockers leading Alvarez
across midfield against one defender.
“We knew it would work,” Alvarez said of the play. “(Doherty)
had everyone coming down, and the guys up front
lined up the blocks perfectly.”
Aside from giving Shrewsbury the lead, the return gave the Colonials some
serious momentum. The defense forced
a three-and-out on Doherty’s next possession, and Shrewsbury embarked on a nine-play, 68-yard touchdown drive
to make it 21-7. Quarterback Jawad Yatim did the honors, scoring
on a 2-yard sweep.
Things kept getting better for Shrewsbury. The defense sacked Doherty quarterback
Tijean Pluverge on the next
possession to set up third-and-long. With the home crowd in a frenzy, Pluverge fumbled on a scramble, and the
ball bounced up and into the hands of Colonials defensive back
Paul Panarelli.
Panarelli gathered the ball in stride and went 40 yards for a touchdown. And,
just like that, Shrewsbury was all
but assured of a playoff spot.
“We really got the momentum on our side after the kick return,”
Walles said. “The defense got fired up and played
lights out, and we got 20 points in a hurry.”
The fourth quarter was a matchup of second strings, and the final gun started
a celebration among the Shrewsbury
players that might last until the Thanksgiving Day game against
Milford High.
“This means everything,” Alvarez said. “We’ve had
some down years here, and we had to go through that adversity
in order to make this happen. All the seniors, we wanted to
leave our mark, and we did it.”
Doherty had taken a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter when Pluverge scored
on a 5-yard touchdown run.
Shrewsbury tied it late in the second quarter on a 1-yard TD run by Shawn
Loiseau, set up by a 61-yard Alvarez
run to the 2-yard line.
“I’m so happy for these players,” Walles said. “It
couldn’t have happened to a better bunch of kids. You hear that
a lot, but with this group, these seniors, it’s true. They really deserve this.”
Saturday, November 3, 2007
SHS stays perfect
By Steve Farley CORRESPONDENTWORCESTER— It’s becoming more apparent
that No. 2-ranked
Shrewsbury High probably isn’t going to blow anyone out, but after last night’s 28-14 win over Burncoat High on
Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium, it’s clear that
an undefeated regular season is a possibility.
Colonials senior quarterback Jawad Yatim had one of his best games of the
season, if not his 2-1/2 years at the
controls, connecting on 11 of 16 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Yatim threw a 54-yard strike to
Michael Okayka in first quarter and a 31-yard TD toss to Paul
Tizzano to seal the outcome in the fourth quarter.
Senior running back Alex Alvarez had another fine outing with 116 yards and
two touchdowns on 17 carries.
Overall, Shrewsbury’s offense rolled up 346 yards.Shrewsbury is 9-0 overall, 4-0 in Division 1 East. Burncoat,
in its first season of Division 1 ball under coach Chris Moriarty,
fell to 2-6, 0-4.
“We kind of played choppy at times, but our offensive line played well
and our defense was very good,” said coach
Terry Walles, who squares off against his alma mater, Doherty, next weekend. “I can live with giving up 14 points,
but scoring 28 in a high school football game isn’t bad either. Burncoat played very well. They played the whole game.
They’re always going to play you tough. Dylan Smith has a lot of guts. Dylan is a good quarterback.
He’s always making plays.”
Shrewsbury scored two first-quarter touchdowns and eventually built a 21-0
lead early in the third quarter before
the Patriots finally got on the board.
After forcing Burncoat to punt deep in its own territory on its opening drive,
the Colonials started at the Patriots’ 45.
Five plays later, Alvarez scampered into the end zone with 8:25 to go in the quarter. Paul Tizzano’s first of two
PATs gave Shrewsbury a 7-0 lead.
Burncoat, aided by a 32-yard pass from Smith to Dan Burke, drove to the Shrewsbury
15. On third-and-11 from
the 16, Smith fumbled while being sacked. It was recovered by Shawn Loiseau at the 25. Needing only three plays,
Yatim hit Okaka, who made a nice over-the-shoulder grab.
“Early on, it looked like we were going to get blown out,” Moriarty
said. “To our kids’ credit, they played hard and
fought right to the end. To beat a great team, you can’t make mistakes. We played hard against an undefeated team.
They (Burncoat kids) are playing for pride right now. Shrewsbury
is playing great and they have the momentum.”
Alvarez scored his second touchdown impressively, shedding two tacklers at
the line of scrimmage before turning
on the jets and into the end zone.
Clutch Theodoss pick rescues the Colonials
By Jim Wilson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
jimwilson@telegram.com
SHREWSBURY— If Shrewsbury ends up clinching the Division 1 East title,
nobody can say the Colonials didn’t earn it.
No. 2 Shrewsbury ran its record to 8-0 (3-0 D1E) after sophomore Nate Theodoss
intercepted a two-point
conversion pass with 27 seconds remaining to give the Colonials a thrilling, 28-27 win over No. 6 Marlboro
last night in Shrewsbury.
The Panthers (5-3, 4-1) were in a position to clinch the D1E title spot and
nearly pulled it off after quarterback
Josh Carter connected with his double-covered standout wide receiver George Jordan for a 35-yard pickup
on fourth-and-20 with 34 seconds left in the game and Marlboro trailing, 28-21. One play later Carter found
a wide open Tyler McElman in the end zone to bring the Panthers within one.Marlboro coach Sean Mahoney
wasted no time going for two points, the win and the league title and postseason berth. Carter was under pressure
and threw an off-balance toss into the hands of Theodoss in
the end zone.
“We missed one earlier and we were trying to win the game,” Mahoney
said. “(Our) kids just make plays.
This is a very, very talented team.”
Jordan caught five passes for 113 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Carter
completed 15 of 28 passes
for 224 yards. Jordan made great grabs on each of his receptions, including a snag on fourth-and-10 at the
Shrewsbury 15 when he tripped over the Colonials’ Michael Okayka, but still managed to make the catch
to give Marlboro a 21-14 lead with nine minutes left.
Shrewsbury responded two plays later as quarterback Jawad Yatim looked deep
for Okayka on
second-and-11 from the Marlboro 49-yard line, but after seeing Okayka covered down the right sideline,
he scrambled and hit Paul Tizzano across the middle. Tizzano outraced two defenders and got a big
downfield block for Okayka to tie the game with eight minutes
left.
“It was a sprint-right and I was supposed to hit the out, but I kind
of slipped and I missed (Okayka),
” Yatim said. “I looked deep and I didn’t have him, but I saw Tizzano coming across. He broke the play
and then I hit him and I saw open field and he took it the rest
of the way.”
“That play was an adjustment by Tizzano because the play was supposed
to be an out (pattern), but
(Marlboro) jumped the out and Jawad bought some time and he came flying across the middle,”
Shrewsbury coach Terry Walles said.
Four plays later, Marlboro was facing third-and-14 at its own 26 when Shrewsbury’s
Paul LeMay stripped
Carter and Nick Esposito recovered the fumble to give the Colonials possession. Shrewsbury scored
three plays later when Alex Alvarez (24 carries, 146 yards) took a pitch to his left and ran behind
fullback Shawn Loiseau and into the end zone to make it 28-21.
“We knew we could drive on them because we were doing it the whole game,”
Yatim said.
“We had a couple fumbles that cost us drives, but I looked at our offense and I told them we could do this.
All it took was one big play and that’s what got us back in the game. The sweep was there for us all
game and we kept going back to it because they couldn’t
stop it.”
Alvarez said he was glad to score three times to atone for two fumbles that
stopped Shrewsbury drives
and kept Marlboro in the game.
“Everyone did their jobs when they needed to,” Alvarez said. “We
worked too hard to lose this game.”
Marlboro took over with four minutes left and it seemed like the Shrewsbury
defense was going to hold the
Panthers after Esposito made a pair of nice plays in the backfield to stop Carter, and Zach Beach sacked
Carter for a 6-yard loss to put the Panthers at the fourth-and-20
and set up Jordan’s brilliant catch.
“Our defense gave up some plays but they stopped them when they had
to,” Walles said. “Marlboro just
kept coming. It seemed like we had them nailed a few times,
fourth-and-20 and third-and-long, but they just kept coming.”
Shrewsbury has league games remaining against Burncoat, Doherty and Milford,
but the Colonials need to lose two
of them for Marlboro to have a chance to win the league title.
A Marlboro win last night would have clinched the title.
“It was a big win because if we lose, we go home,” Yatim said.
“There were some big plays and big teams make big plays.”
Shrewsbury 35, Westboro 29
No. 2 Colonials air out Algonquin
By Jim Wilson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
At home or on the road, in or out of its division, the Shrewsbury High train
keeps rolling along.
The No. 2-ranked Colonials continued to record big wins last night as senior
quarterback Jawad Yatim racked up
nearly 200 yards passing to lead Shrewsbury to a convincing, 27-6, win over No. 7 Algonquin Regional in a
Division 1 East matchup at Richard Walsh Field.
Yatim completed his first eight passes and finished 14 of 16 for 196 yards
and two touchdowns. The Colonials’
defense continued to shine, as the first unit held the Tomahawks scoreless and allowed just five first downs
.“Our defense played great, they were amazing today, but I’m going to give it up to my O-line and my receivers,
” Yatim said. “How can you not complete passes when you have 10 seconds to throw the ball and (the receivers)
are wide open?”
“He did a really good job tonight,” Shrewsbury coach Terry Walles
said of Yatim. “He completed a lot of
passes on second and third reads and that’s really good for a high school quarterback. We have a lot of guys
that can catch the ball. You have to pick your poison because a lot of teams would try to take Michael (Okayka)
away, and we have three or four other guys that can really
catch.”
With Lunenburg upending Narragansett Regional last night, Shrewsbury (6-0,
1-0 Division 1 East) is the lone
undefeated team in Central Mass.
The Colonials led, 14-0, at halftime and put the game away with an 8-minute,
17-play drive to start the second half.
Yatim capped the drive with a nifty 14-yard pass over the middle that was snagged by cousin Mohamed Yatim,
who made a nice catch between a pair defenders to make it 21-0.
“That is a really scary team (at Algonquin),” Walles said. “The
St. John’s win was great, but I thought this was
our most complete game we’ve played all year, offense and defense together. To come out in the third quarter
with an 8-minute drive, that’s the game right there.”
“That took all the air out of them,” Jawad Yatim said. “It
took eight minutes, we were up, 14-0, and to come in
and score (was big). When we take that much time off the clock, it puts more pressure on them to come in and
score right away.”
Not only did Algonquin (3-3, 1-2) drop its second straight game, but the Tomahawks
lost running backs Brian
Bachand (broken hand), Matt Campbell (shoulder) and Steve Lesnikowski
(ankle) during the game to injury.
“Against a team like that, you can’t let up,” Algonquin
coach Mike Vulcano said. “It’s all about making plays
and we didn’t make plays all night — all night. I didn’t think we were flat because we had the best week
of practice we’ve had all year.”
Shrewsbury took control early, taking advantage of a bad snap on a punt to
take over at the Algonquin
30-yard line. After Alex Alvarez (12 carries, 41 yards) gained three yards, Yatim dropped a perfect pass
into the end zone to Paul Tizzano, who made a tremendous over-the-shoulder catch and dragged his feet
inbounds to make it 7-0.
“We thought we could throw the ball well,” Walles said. “We’ve
been throwing the ball all right, but I really
wanted to open things up this week. On the second play, we wanted to put that in specifically for that game.
We thought it would be there and it was. Paul made a great
catch.”
Yatim hooked up with Tizzano (three catches, 64 yards) again in the second
quarter, finding his junior receiver
for a 29-yard gain to bring the ball to the Algonquin 1-yard
line. Yatim’s QB sneak a play later made it 14-0.
“You have to learn from this,” Vulcano said. “We’re
a young team. We have to get better and the kids have to
grow and be committed to football. We haven’t had that around here. You have to believe in the scheme and
execute it. My hat is off to Terry — those guys turned
that program around this year and did everything we want to do.”
“You’re only down, 14-0, it’s no big deal,” Vulcano
said. “We talked about the third quarter. We talked about
taking them three and out. We wanted to take them three and
out, get the ball back and score. We just did not respond.”
Shrewsbury’s Ray St. Laurent broke two tackles en route to a 11-yard
score with 4:48 remaining to make
it 27-0. Algonquin got on the board with 2:16 left in the game after quarterback Mike Vulcano found
Thomas Dumont for a 43-yard score. The conversion pass failed, leaving the score, 27-6.
Colonials are finally the toast of the town
By Chad Garner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
SHREWSBURY— The Shrewsbury High football team had been waiting nearly
20 years to celebrate a victory
over cross-town rival St. John’s. Let the party begin.
The fourth-ranked Colonials regained the lead with 25 seconds left in the
game on wide receiver Mike Okayka’s
6-yard touchdown reception on fourth down, but had to sweat it out as the top-ranked Pioneers’ 39-yard field-goal
attempt went wide right on the final play of a thrilling, 27-25 victory.“I don’t know how many people were here, but
everyone got their money’s worth in this one,” Shrewsbury coach Terry Walles said. “You can’t ask for a better
football game on both sides.”
After an interception by the Pioneers’ Andrew Dugan, St. John’s
marched 73 yards in 16 plays, capped by
John Perron’s 3-yard touchdown reception from quarterback John Andreoli in the back of the end zone with
1:57 to play.
Trailing, 25-21, the Colonials put together a textbook two-minute drive as
running backs Alex Alvarez and
Shawn Loiseau carried on six straight plays. On fourth down from the 6, quarterback Jawad Yatim got the play call
— a fade into the corner of the end zone — and connected with favorite target Okayka, who fought off double
coverage before leaping and snagging the TD with 25 seconds
left.
“I saw Mike one-on-one with the corner,” Yatim said. “I
looked to Mike’s way right away. I tossed it up,
and he just caught it. He made a great catch. Me and him, we have chemistry like crazy. I just trust him more
than anyone. I wouldn’t have wanted to throw it to anyone
else.”
Okayka gave all the credit to his quarterback for a great pressure throw.
“Jawad just threw it up, and I just came down with it somehow,”
he said. “It was a perfect-placed pass, and
I just caught it. It’s been so long, and we put everything
we had. … Now we take the town back.”
But the Pioneers, trailing 27-25, drove to the Colonials’ 22 as Andreoli
found James Lizotte for 21 yards and
Perron on the sideline for 10 more yards with 5 seconds left.
But Pat Lowe’s winning field-goal attempt drifted wide right, setting
off a wild celebration on the field by the
Colonials and their fans.
“It was 44 minutes, every single minute of it,” St. John’s
coach John Andreoli said. “This was a great football game
played by two great teams. There’s no other kid you’d want to put on the line when the game’s on the line than
Pat Lowe. I’d do it the next 100 times. I have that kind
of confidence in him.”
St. John’s Brendan Coyne got the scoring started in the first quarter
with a 1-yard TD plunge, but Alvarez tied the
score at 7-7 with a 30-yard TD scamper early in the second quarter.
Lowe nailed a 29-yard field goal, set up by Nathan Madison’s fumble
recovery, as the Pioneers claimed a 10-7
lead with 4:57 left before the half.
But Alvarez (19 carries for 192 yards) capped a six-play drive with a 2-yard
TD run as the Colonials led, 14-10,
at intermission.
Shrewsbury went ahead, 21-10, with 3:42 left in the third quarter when Yatim
hooked up with Paul Tizzano for a
17-yard TD strike on a slant play, but Andreoli used his legs to pull his team back in with a 17-yard TD run.
He also found Billy Vitello for the two-point conversion pass.
Evan Wheeler carried 25 times for 95 yards for the Pioneers.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Defense does the job again
Colonials (3-0) have allowed 13 points in 3 games
By Kevin O’Malley CORRESPONDENT
The fifth-ranked Shrewsbury Colonials matched their win total of a year ago,
turning back Wachusett Regional, 28-7, last night before a packed
house at Shrewsbury High.
“I couldn’t be happier for these seniors. We’ve had a couple
down seasons, and we told them ‘Believe, it’s going to
come,’ and our preparation is really paying off,” Shrewsbury coach Terry Walles said. “Our goal was to play hard
for 44 minutes, and we are doing that.”
For the third time in as many weeks, Shrewsbury scored a defensive touchdown
as defensive back Michael Okayka
returned an interception for a score. Okayka picked off a Tony Tokarz pass at the Colonial 26-yard line late in the
fourth quarter and raced down the left sideline to seal Shrewsbury’s third straight win.“Our defense can’t play much
better, giving up 13 points in three games, you can’t play much better than that, and we’ve scored three touchdowns
on defense,” Walles said. “Defense has played outstanding.
They are really carrying us.”
Shrewsbury entertains cross-town rival and top-ranked St. John’s next
Friday night.
The Colonials scored first just over three minutes into the first quarter,
capitalizing on a blocked punt by Okayka that
gave Shrewsbury the ball on the Mountaineer 10-yard line.
Three plays later, Jawad Yatim connected with Okayka on a 10-yard touchdown
toss. Paul Tizzano added the extra
point to give the hosts a 7-0 advantage.
Shrewsbury nearly had another couple scores, but a 61-yard touchdown run by
Alex Alvarez in the first quarter was
called back due to a holding penalty as was his 60-yard touchdown run in the final two minutes of the half — his fourth
touchdown run called back by a holding penalty this season.
Alvarez did manage to get into the end zone without the aid of any holding
with just over four minutes to play in the
first half, capping a 5-play, 74-yard drive with a 26-yard dash
to give the Colonials a 14-0 lead at the half.
After taking over at the Colonial 45-yard line, following a short Shrewsbury
punt, the Mountaineers marched
45 yards on nine plays with quarterback Tony Tokarz scoring on a 1-yard keeper. Ryan Shooshan added the
extra point to make it 14-7 with just over five minutes to
play in the third quarter.
Alvarez had a third touchdown run called back by a holding penalty on the
Colonials’ ensuing drive.
“Our offense moved the ball pretty good, but we shot ourselves in the
foot with a couple holding penalties,
but it wasn’t due to lack of effort,” Walles said. “If we didn’t have those holding penalties, we would have
put a nice score on the board.”
“We’ll go back to practice and try to get better,” Wachusett
coach Mike Dubzinski said when asked about
his team’s struggles holding onto the football.
Big-play defense seals the victory
Shrewsbury digs in for a 2-0 start
By Chad Garner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFFTOWNSEND— Matt Hutchinson
is living a dream.
The Shrewsbury senior lineman scored his first career touchdown by intercepting
a pass after superstar
linebacker Shawn Loiseau knocked the ball out of North Middlesex quarterback Alan Ericson’s hand
and rumbled 40 yards to the end zone to seal the No. 4 Colonials’
20-6 victory last night at Young Memorial Field.
“I feel unbelievable,” a beaming Hutchinson said. “Loiseau
came around the end, blocked the pass out
of (Ericson’s) hand, and I saw it. No one was stopping me, I don’t care if there was a truck coming,
I was going in that end zone. Our defense stepped up.”Trailing, 13-6, after Shrewsbury quarterback
Jawad Yatim took a keeper into the end zone from 1 yard out with 1:10 left in the third quarter, the
Patriots got a big, 43-yard kickoff return from D.J. Webb down
to the Colonial 44.
North Middlesex (0-2) drove to the 2 on a 17-yard pass from Ericson to Leo
LeBlanc and Ericson’s
13-yard run. But on fourth-and-goal from the 2, Justin Maudie was gang-tackled by a swarming
Colonial defense as the Patriots were forced to turn over the
ball on downs.
The Patriots stopped Shrewsbury (2-0) on back-to-back, three-and-out series
and got the ball
back with 3:51 left at the Colonial 46.
But on the first play of the drive, Ericson dropped back to pass and was met
by Loiseau, who
tipped the ball out of his hand and into the air. Hutchinson was there waiting for the knuckling pigskin,
corralling it at the 40 and rumbling down the near sideline
before slipping a tackle near the 15 en route to the end zone.
“I went for the ball. Once (Hutchinson) got it, I knew no one was going
to be able to get him,
” Loiseau said. “It was an awesome play. Our defense
played lights out tonight.”
Paul Tizzano stopped North Middlesex’s final drive of the game with
an interception in the end zone.
Despite being outgained by North Middlesex, 219-165, in total yardage, Shrewsbury,
fresh off a
shutout of Auburn in Week 1, made the big plays in crunch time
while the Patriots didn’t.
“Our kids were in a battle right to the end,” North Middlesex
coach John Margarita said.
“We went toe-to-toe with them. Young teams make mistakes,
but we’ll get better.”
One key mistake was late in the third quarter. The Patriots were going to
punt, but the
punter muffed the kick, and Shrewsbury’s Anthony Wright pounced on the ball at the 15, which
set up Yamin’s 1-yard TD.
“Our defense is playing very, very well right now and carrying us,”
Shrewsbury coach Terry Walles
said. “I couldn’t be prouder of my kids. It’s
nice to be 2-0 again.”
On the opening drive of the game, Shrewsbury elected to go for it on fourth
down, and James Marley
stopped the Colonials’ Raymond St. Laurent short of the
first down.
The key stop paved the way for the Patriots’ only score of the game.
Seven straight running plays by
Ericson (15 carries, 54 yards, 1 TD), LeBlanc (11 carries, 51 yards) Webb and Maudie brought the
ball to the 18, and Ericson hooked up with Webb down the sideline for 12 yards to the Colonial 6.
From there, Ericson capped off the nine-play, 41-yard drive, as he called his own number and
burst off the right end for a 6-yard TD run.
Colonials ground Rockets
Defense allows just 85 yards
By Chad Garner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
SHREWSBURY— Shrewsbury High entered last night’s game knowing it needed to contain Auburn High
junior quarterback Jon Leroux.
The Colonials’ defense took it as a personal challenge, flustering the
Auburn offense and Leroux all night.
Shrewsbury allowed only 85 yards of offense to the Rockets and picked off
Leroux twice en route to a
dominating, 22-0 victory in its home opener.“We just wanted to play clean,” Shrewsbury coach
Terry Walles said. “I told the kids prior to the game that their quarterback might be one of the best in
Central Mass. … He obviously can do a lot of things. Our goal was to kind of put the pedal to the metal
the whole game on both sides of the ball. The kids played lights-out. I’m very proud of my kids.
I couldn’t be happier.”
The Shrewsbury defense, which held the Rockets to 17 yards of offense in the
first half, flexed
its muscle on the Rockets’ second possession. Auburn went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Colonials’ 41,
but a host of Shrewsbury defenders stood up running back Anthony Mandella,
giving the Colonials the ball back.
The stop on fourth down eventually paid off as the Colonials, led by quarterback
Jawad Yatim,
marched downfield on a seven-play drive, capped by Alexander Alvarez’s 2-yard TD with
6:23 left in the second quarter. Paul Tizzano’s extra point gave Shrewsbury
a 7-0 lead.
On the drive, Yatim hooked up with Alvarez for 16 yards and went play-action
to Mohamed Yatim
for 12 yards down to the 2-yard line.
Auburn went three-and-out on its next possession, and Shrewsbury again went
to work.
QB Jawad Yatim (12 of 19, 175 yards, one interception) found Michael Okaka on a quick slant for
15 yards, and Tizzano hauled in a pass on the far sidelines, cut back to the middle, and eluded
several Rockets before being brought down at the 5 after a 24-yard pickup.
“Our passing game was pretty good,” Walles said.
Alvarez went up the middle for a 2-yard gain, and Shawn Loiseau followed a
full-house backfield for
a 3-yard TD burst to cap a 9-play, 50-yard drive.
After only registering two first downs in the first half (one on a Shrewsbury
unsportsmanlike penalty),
Auburn again failed to pick up a first down on its first two second-half
drives.
“I don’t think it was Shrewsbury’s defense, I think we need
to do a better job executing. I think it was
more us than them,” Auburn coach Jeff Cormier said.
The Rockets finally did earn a first down early in the fourth quarter when
Alex Filiere broke free on a
dive play for 13 yards. But the drive stalled.
Shrewsbury gave the ball back after a fumble, and Auburn threatened to break
up the shutout.
Leroux (4 of 18, 34 yards, two interceptions) hit Antonio Leatham for 13 yards, and Corey Roy
went for 14 yards on a draw. On fourth down, Auburn picked up a first down on
Mike Kopec’s 9-yard reception down to the 4.
But Shrewsbury — with outstanding defensive games from Loiseau, Raymond
St. Laurent,
Matthew Hutchinson and James Weed — sealed the verdict when Tizzano picked off Leroux
in the end zone and raced 100 yards untouched for a touchdown with 56 seconds
left in the game.
Tizzano’s extra point was blocked, but an alert Hussein Yatim picked
up the live ball and
barreled into the end zone for 2 points.
“Paul Tizzano, he made some great plays on offense and defense. He’s
just unbelievable
,” Walles said. “He’s like a coach on the field. He’s
as good as you get.”
Shrewsbury outgained Auburn in yardage, 239-85.