Spartans can’t stop Austin Prep

LYNN – -Fumbling the ball away three times and allowing 20 points to a conference foe in the opening quarter is truly a bad omen for your ball club.That’s exactly what happened to the St. Mary’s football squad last night, as two of those opening period turnovers led to touchdowns, and the Spartans skidded to a 42-14 defeat at the hands of Catholic Conference large opponent Austin Prep at Manning Field.The Cougars (5-2) took the opening kickoff, with the big play coming on third-and-5 on their 41. Quarterback Ryan Havey found teammate Brendan Burke along the far sidelines despite fine coverage for 28 yards to the Spartans 31. Havey then ran for 11 to the 20 on the following play. Back Ray Acciavatti went in from the 16 two plays later for a 6-0 Cougars advantage, the first of his four scores.St. Mary’s (4-3) fumbled on its first possession without doing any damage. Yet after holding Austin Prep, the Spartans gave the ball away at their 13. The Cougars were only able to gain minimal yardage on their first few plays, yet on fourth-and-4 from the 7, southpaw quarterback Jon Richard dumped a short pass to Acciavatti over on the right, and he took it into the end zone to double the lead to 12-0 late in the period.The next fumble was perhaps the most painful. The Spartans began their next drive at their 43, and after gaining two yards on first down, back Ryan Barrows picked up the necessary yardage for what would have been a St. Mary’s first down. The ball was stripped out of his hands, with the ball bouncing into the arms of Cougar lineman Nick Dell’Anno who returned it 55 yards for the touchdown. Acciavatti added the two-point conversion on a pass from Richard for a 20-0 lead with 21 seconds remaining in the quarter.”Austin Prep is a very good team, and we knew that going in,” said Spartans coach Matt Durgin. “They don’t beat themselves, and they took advantage of our mistakes. They also controlled the line of scrimmage.”St. Mary’s put together a solid drive which took over three minutes. The Spartans were aided by a personal foul against the Cougars on second-and-14, which placed the ball at the Austin Prep 27. Back Nick Day then took a pitch from quarterback Cam Mulvey, and cut wide to the right and down the sidelines to put the team on the board.However, the Cougars promptly replied. They moved 71 yards in seven plays, with back Matt Mulcahy ending it with a two-yard score. Dell’Anno’s two-point run gave Austin Prep a 28-6 halftime edge.Acciavati added a pair of touchdowns of 1 and 26 yards, respectively, before Matt McDermott scored for the Spartans on an 11-yard run in the final quarter. Teammate Xavier Gonzalez added the two-point rush.