English 48, Classical 14: Bulldogs jump out early, often

LYNN – The Lynn English football team has taken steps forward under first year coach Peter Holey this season, but the Bulldogs came to Manning Field Thursday with one thing on their minds – beat archrival Lynn Classical.And thanks to perhaps their best half of football this season, the Bulldogs did exactly that.Click here to see a photo gallery of Thursday’s English-Classical game.Ryan Woumn’s 90-yard return of the game’s opening kick set the tone and Jesse Fowler’s four touchdown passes and 203 yards through the air continued that tone. English led 35-0 at the half and rolled to a 48-14 win over the Rams in front of more than 1,600 fans at Manning.The win assured English of second place in the NEC North behind Gloucester and gave the Bulldogs their best record since the Chris Carroll era. It also was sweet revenge for a 49-7 defeat handed to them by the Rams last season.”They’ve been preparing for this game for 12 months,” Holey said. “I had a feeling they’d come out strong and boy did they.”For Classical (5-5, 3-2 NEC North), this Turkey Day was one that was frustrating. The Rams were held to 41 yards of offense in the first half and by the time Classical did get something going, it was far too late.”I’m proud of my kids. They didn’t quit and played for all four quarters,” Classical coach Tim Phelps said.”But credit to English. They played hard and deserved to win.”Many of the fans hadn’t yet settled into their seats after the national anthem when Woumn took Jasper Grassa’s opening kick at the English 10 and raced untouched through the middle of the Rams coverage team to give English a 7-0 lead just 12 seconds into the game.Things only went from bad to worse for Classical on the ensuing kick when the Rams fumbled and Brian Castellanos recovered for the Bulldogs at the Classical six.Two Jermaine Patterson runs later, English had a 13-0 lead just 54 seconds in thanks to the seniors seventh touchdown run of the season.”We were hoping to get off to a start like that,” Holey said. “Ryan made that big play for us to get it going.”Following a short kick and a penalty, the Rams finally snapped the ball at the English 45. Classical moved right downfield on the strength of its powerful running attack and had second and two at the 13 when things went south again.A fumbled snap resulted in a loss of a yard before the English defense stopped Kashaun Avery on third down and Cam Smith inches short of the sticks on fourth and three.Classical forced a punt following the turnover on downs and got the ball on the English 28 with 4:15 left in the first,but failed to convert again as Taron Seaforth picked off a Grassa pass on fourth down.The Bulldogs then turned to their senior quarterback to get started.A 22-yard screen pass to Kyle Smith was followed by a 13-yard completion to Castellanos. Fowler then scrambled for 11 yards to the Classical 35 before capping a seven play, 74-yard drive with a 35-yard strike to a wide open Woumn to make it 21-0 with 24 seconds left in the first quarter.”Jesse really is the foundation of our offense,” Holey said. “It would really have a different look without him.”Early in the second quarter, the Rams turned the ball over on downs at their 49. And with a short field, the Bulldogs would extend the lead.After Fowler kept the drive going with a 10 yard scramble on third and three at the 42, he converted on a fourth-and-one at the 23.Two plays later, Charlie Rucker got behind the defense and it was an easy pitch and catch from Fowler to give English a 27-0 lead with 4:57 left in the half.Late in the half, the Bulldogs forced a Classical punt and when Grassa bobbled the snap, he was tackled for a 10-yard loss at the Rams 22.Three plays later, Patterson bulled in from the two and English took its 35-0 lead into the locker room.”They made a lot of big plays and we didn’t.”That was the story,” Phelps said.Despite being outgained 195-41 in the first half, the Rams showed some resolve and put points on the board to start