Classical 34, English 27: Grassa’s touchdown seals win for Rams

LYNN – In the long history of the Lynn English-Lynn Classical rivalry, Thursday’s game in front of a packed house at Manning Field might be remembered as perhaps the most exciting the two teams have played in ages.The teams combined for over 600 yards of offense and 61 points as Jasper Grassa’s two-yard run with 2:40 left and a spectacular stop by the Rams’ defense in the final moments preserved a 34-27 Classical win in front of over 2,000 fans.Click here to see a photo gallery from the English/Classical game.”The defense really made some great plays there at the end,” Classical coach Tim Phelps said after getting a double dose of Gatorade from his players in celebration. “Both teams played so hard and our guys were just able to make a play there at the end.”The final stand was something that looked like it wasn’t going to be needed as the Rams (7-4) had a 26-13 lead with 11:20 left in the game. But English quarterback Tyllor McDonald (255 all-purpose yards) threw a pair of touchdown passes to speedster Melvin Tavares to give English a one-point lead with 6:59 to go.The Rams then put together a huge drive. Quarterback Nick Grassa’s 22-yard option keep was followed by a one-handed snare by Casey Johnson that moved the ball to the English 32.From there, it was all on the back of Jasper Grassa. The senior carried on five of the next six plays to put the Rams back in front by seven when he scored off the right side and added the two-point conversion.”Jasper ran his butt off (Thursday),” Phelps said. “And the offensive line played really well all day. And that’s what we ask them to do.”The only bad thing for the Rams was that they left 2:40 on the clock for McDonald and the explosive English offense. Tavares nearly stole the thunder when he returned the kick to the Classical 32 where Jasper Grassa made a touchdown saving stop.Three plays later, McDonald showed his elusiveness by scrambling for 16 yards on fourth-and-13 to keep English’s hopes alive. A 13-yard pass to Ryan Woumn moved the ball to the Classical six with just under 2:00 remaining.McDonald was tackled for a five-yard loss on first down and was stopped for a loss of three on second down with 1:40 to go. The Rams pass rush then forced an errant pass on third down before three green jerseys met in the backfield to sack McDonald for a nine-yard loss on fourth-and-goal to seal the win.”Classical made the plays when they had to,” English coach Peter Holey said. “We just didn’t make the plays at the end. I regret calling that run on first down and that’s my fault.”English got the ball to start the game and put the first touchdown of the day on the board when McDonald capped a 64-yard march with a five-yard keeper to make it 7-0. The Rams responded in only three plays as Jaquan Huston’s 49-yard run got Classical in position for Nick Grassa to keep on an option play and score from 21 out to tie things after one quarter.The Rams pushed in front early in the second, taking advantage of a Josh Cheever interception to drive 65 yards in 10 plays, capped by a Nick Grassa sneak that made it 13-7.English would comeback to tie later in the second after a fumbled option pitch was recovered at the Bulldog 44. McDonald hit passes of 10, 12 and 10 yards before scampering 14 yards on fourth-and-two to deadlock things at the break.The only touchdown of the third quarter came after Classical stopped English on fourth-and-one at the Bulldog 38. The Rams then drove the distance in nine plays, capped by Casey Johnson’s 10-yard run around left end that made it 20-13 after three.