St. Mary’s rolls over Fenwick

PEABODY ?Seemingly before the crowd even had a chance to get seated in the stands, St. Mary’s had already established a commanding lead over their hosts. In the end, the first five minutes of the game was all that mattered as the Spartans rolled over Bishop Fenwick, 36-0, at Donaldson Field.St. Mary’s36Fenwick0 For St. Mary’s (9-1, 5-1 Catholic Central (Large), Todd Collier led the multi-pronged running attack, tallying 161 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries.The Spartans opened the game with a punishing 11-play drive, culminating in Collier’s first touchdown of the game. On the first play of Fenwick’s ensuing possession, a faulty shotgun snap was recovered by Guychard Samson of St. Mary’s, giving the Spartans choice field position at the Crusader 15. Two plays later, Nick Day rumbled into the end zone from five yards out.Things only got worse for Fenwick (3-8, 1-4 CCL) as St. Mary’s forced another fumble on the kick off. This time Luis Rijo was on the spot to recover for the Spartans. Within minutes Xavier Gonzalez scored from one-yard out to help St. Mary’s to a 24-0. The scoreboard still showed 2:30 left in the first quarter.”I thought our guys came out fast from the start and played hard,” said St. Mary’s coach Matt Durgin. “We were fortunate to get the turnovers. We caught a couple of breaks early and fortunately we capitalized on them.”The St. Mary’s defense would then get in on the rout, holding Fenwick to just 17 first half plays. For the Crusaders, receiver Ryan Lipka extended his state reception record. On a simple out pattern to the flat, Lipka hauled in this 100th pass of the season. Lipka broke the previous record of 94 receptions last week. Lipka is now the first receiver in Massachusetts high school history to eclipse the 100 reception mark. He finished the game with a total of six receptions, raising his season total to 105 with the Thanksgiving day game still to play.Before the end of the half, Collier would score on a 43-yard dash through the line and up the hash marks. Ryan Barrows three yard score with 3:16 left in the second quarter gave St. Mary’s a 36-0 lead heading into halftime.”I thought they were the best team in the conference coming in,” said Fenwick coach Dave Woods. “I still think they are the best team in the conference.”