Big fourth quarter lifts Rams

MALDEN – A week after a fourth-quarter loss to Beverly, Lynn Classical ended up on the winning side of a heartbreaker.It wasn’t pretty – no game that features a combined nine fumbles and five interceptions ever is – but Classical scored 12 points in the final quarter to eke out a 19-14 victory over Malden at MacDonald Stadium Saturday afternoon.The Rams (3-3) fumbled the ball six times in the second half, losing possession on four occasions. But two late touchdowns, and a crucial recovery of an onside kick, proved to be the difference in an otherwise sloppy slugfest.”A win’s a win, but we’ve got some things to fix,” Classical coach Tim Phelps said. “We still turned the ball over a couple times, and we still fumbled ? but we got the win, so I’m excited.”Trailing, 14-7, entering the final period, Classical started things off poorly when a fumble by quarterback Nick Grassa on fourth-and-goal from the Golden Tornados’ two-yard line ended what could have been a tying drive.The Rams’ defense stepped up, though, when Desmond Avery picked off a pass by Malden quarterback Shakarus Semexant to give Classical possession at the Tornados’ 21.Classical capitalized on fourth-and-goal on the drive. Grassa found Casey Johnson in the back of the end zone from 13 yards out, bringing the Rams within one. Classical opted for two, but Johnson was denied on his carry.Phelps said the decision to go for two was a combination of his team’s inconsistent kicking and the offensive struggles in the second half.”We hit [an extra point] today, but that was the first one we hit in a couple weeks,” he said. “I felt better going for [two]. And to be honest, I didn’t know if we were going to score again, so I wanted to go for the win.”With just over five minutes remaining, the Rams recovered the ensuing onside kick, regaining possession at the Malden 49. Aided by a facemask penalty on the Tornados, the Rams marched downfield. Eight plays later, Ricky Bigwood found pay dirt from two yards out, giving the Rams a 19-14 edge with a minute and a half to play.Malden (2-4) made things interesting by advancing to the Classical 40, but the game ended on Semexant’s fumble with no time remaining, sealing the Rams’ victory.In the first half, both teams struggled to do much offensively. An early Malden turnover allowed Classical to score the half’s only points, when Grassa hooked up with Keith Nance from 28 yards out to give the Rams a 7-0 lead.Malden, meanwhile, struggled throughout the half. The Tornados threw two interceptions and fumbled away another possession, and netted just 54 yards in the two periods.”We feel like we were too sloppy to win a football game,” Malden coach Joseph Pappagallo said. “We talked about eliminating mistakes, but obviously we weren’t able to do that, and it cost us the game.”The Tornados, however, came out with a sense of urgency in the third. They tied the game on Nick Hoyt’s three-yard rush late in the period, and took the lead on a 30-yard pass from Semexant to David Console just two minutes later.Both touchdowns were preceded by Classical fumbles; the Rams lost the ball three times in the third.But when it came down to crunch time, the Rams converted the two necessary scoring drives to steal the victory.”Our defense had a chance to win the game by just stopping them,” Pappagallo said. “But we struggled doing it.”