Minuteman has one more play in the book to beat Tech

LYNN – In the end it came down to who was going to make not just The Big Play, but who was going to make more of them. When the final seconds had erased from the clock, Tech found themselves on the short end of a 38-36 final to visiting Minuteman at Manning Field.”The kids played very hard on both sides tonight. It must have been a great game for the fans, but unfortunately we came out on the wrong of it,” said Tech coach Gary Sverker.In a game where both teams scored rushing the ball, passing the ball, and returning kick offs, Minuteman put together just one more Big Play than the Tigers.Naturally, after Tech had taken a 14-0 lead off of a Leroy Davis 38 yard scamper, the Mustangs’ Greg Young returned the ensuing kick off 75 yards for a score. Tech returned favor seven plays later when Richie Warren found Wardell Barber from 25 yards out to put the Tigers on top 22-7.”I though our offense played well tonight, we avoided taking some penalties,” said Sverker. “(Minuteman) really capitalized on some mistakes and it was a back and forth game in which we came up two points short.”After a wild second quarter where Minuteman quarterback Jarris Charley found Young on 17 and 13 yard touchdown passes, and Sheldon McBynum returned a fumble for a score, Tech watched their lead reverse into a 26-22 halftime deficit.In the second half, both teams decided to buckle down on defense. When Anthony Coleman found paydirt from 24 yards out, Tech found themselves not only returning favor of a Charley to JR Orne touchdown, but also within two points of the lead, trailing 32-30. There the score stayed until the final three minutes of the game.When Minuteman found the end zone after a long and time consuming drive, the Mustangs led 38-30 with 2:24 remaining in the game. Mirroring Minuteman’s kick off return of the first half, Gerrad Fairweather took the resulting kick off 85 yards directly up the middle of the field. Both teams lined up for the two point conversion, which the Mustangs snuffed out with a massive gang tackle at the line of scrimmage. Tech still trailed 38-36, where the score would stay despite forcing a Minuteman punt after the two minute warning.”I thought both teams played well, they had some big plays and we had some big plays,” said Sverker. “They capitalized on some plays, and we threw it right back at them.”True to fashion of the game, the final Big Play was the Mustangs essentially sealing the game with an interception with very little time left on the clock.For Tech Coleman led the team in rushing with 91 yards. Mikey Lara added 55 yards of between the tackles running, while Davis chalked up 52 yards of rushing and an addition 162 yards of kickoff returns. Davis opened the game with a 62 yard return to put the Tigers in great field position for their first score, when Dustin Rooney found Barber from 12 yards out.