Defense keeps Reggies on roll

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October 14, 2012

Defense keeps Reggies on roll

By Christopher Smith csmith@eagletribune.com The Eagle-Tribune The Eagle Tribune Sun Oct 14, 2012, 12:06 AM EDT

ANDOVER — The Lynn Tech offense entered yesterday’s game against Greater Lawrence averaging 24.5 points per game this season and having just routed Mystic Valley 44-0 last week.

But the Reggies defense wasn’t intimated at all.

Led by defensive end Jake Barchard, who received the game ball from head coach Tony Sarkis, the Reggies (5-1) held Lynn Tech to just 87 yards of total offense on their way to a 21-0 victory at homecoming.

“We wanted to contain (quarterback Kennedy Gomes),” Sarkis said. “He’s a great athlete for them. And for us to contain him, a big part of it was Jake.

“That’s a team that scores a lot of points,” Sarkis added. “So defensively, we’re clicking together. I’m not happy that we got shut out in the second half. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little. So we need to clean up a lot of things. Big one next week against Shawsheen.”

Barchard absolutely leveled Lynn Tech running back Shawn Osorio late in the game, getting the Reggies’ sideline roaring. He also assisted on an impressive sack in the second half.

“This is probably the best game I’ve had all year,” Barchard said. “I was sick all week. I practiced (only three days) but I came back and did good this game.”

Two-minute drill: Marcos Ortiz was back at quarterback for the Reggies after being sidelined last week with a fever. He was 3 of 8 for 50 yards with all three completions coming on Greater Lawrence’s final drive of the first half.

Lynn Tech punted with 52.6 seconds left before halftime and Ortiz and his offense drove 45 yards on seven plays for a touchdown.

On the drive, Ortiz completed a 22-yard pass to Barchard on a fourth-and-10 play, an 18-yard pass to Cristian Rivera on a first-and-15 play and a 10-yard touchdown strike to Caige Nichols.

“All the stuff he did in the summer is kind of paying off with that quick offense,” Sarkis said about Ortiz. “He’s a smart kid. He knows where to put the ball.”

Ortiz threw three incompletions to start the final drive of the first half, but then hit three of his next four targets.

“We were in the pro set,” Ortiz said. “Coach wanted to throw the ball. We came out and tried to throw the ball as best as possible. A little bit of a rough start throwing the ball, but we recuperated and punched it in.”

Ojeda’s big day: Danny Ojeda also had an impressive day on defense. He dropped Osorio for a 3-yard loss on a fourth-and-2 play in the second quarter.

He also broke up a fourth-down pass by Gomes with little time remaining to preserve the shutout.

“That’s our big boy,” Barchard said. “He’s one of the biggest kids on our team. It’s good seeing him almost get an interception. And it’s awesome when you get a shutout.”

Greater Lawrence 21, Lynn Tech 0

Lynn Tech (2-3): 0 0 0 0 — 0

Greater Lawrence (5-1): 7 14 0 0 — 21

First Quarter

GL — Cristian Rivera 9 run (Jake Barchard kick), 3:20

Second Quarter

GL — Rivera 1 run (Rivera run), 8:28

GL — Caige Nichols 10 pass from Marcos Ortiz (pass failed), :04

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: GL (33-166) Cristian Rivera 24-127, Marcos Ortiz 8-16, Barchard 1-23; LT (32-88) — Billy Colon 9-42, Shawn Osorio 18-48, Kennedy Gomes 4-1, Nelson Figueroa 1-(-3)

PASSING: GL — Ortiz 3-8-0, 50 yards; LT — Gomes 2-4-0, -1 yards

RECEIVING: GL — Barchard 1-22, Rivera 1-18, Caige Nichols 1-10; LT — Michael Chiapperini 1-(-1), Arlin Reynoso 1-0