Tiger coach keeps his head high

LYNN – It would have been easy for the Lynn Tech football team to pack up its tent and call it a night on Wednesday at Manning Field when it found itself trailing St. Mary’s 40-0 early in the third quarter.But first- year coach James Runner wasn’t going to let his Tigers do that.Tech wound up on the short end of a 40-6 game that in all actuality really wasn’t that close, but it was how the Tigers finished against St. Mary’s that gives Runner reason to be positive about what lies ahead for his program.”The one thing I asked my coaches and players to do was fight until the end,” Runner said. “And we did that. The future is bright for Lynn Tech football and a lot of young players grew up (Wednesday).”The Tigers (1-10) got the ball back with 4:36 left in the game and used that final drive to instill and drive home the point of never giving up on a game.Quarterback Kennedy Gomes, who was pounded on all night by a St. Mary’s defense that swarmed to the ball from the get-go, was basically a one man wrecking crew after the Tigers lost running back Pedro Martinez to an injury in the second quarter.It was Gomes’ determination that let the Tigers put points on the board at the gun.He dropped back from his 26 and looked for Richie Warren Jr. in the end zone, but the Spartans had him double covered leaving Gomes with only one resort: run for the goal line.Making two defenders miss, Gomes went in as time expired to give the Tigers their touchdown. “E veryone knows that we don’t start well in games cause we’re such a young team,” Runner said.”But I think the goal now is to start well and finish well in games as we go along.”The future, however, is truly bright for the Tigers as they lose only five seniors off their roster and return players like Gomes and Martinez for another go-round in 2011.”I was so proud of the guys never giving up and stepping up for me,” Runner said.”We will take this experience and learn from it and become a better team because of it.”uThe Spartans 10-1 record will be better than several teams who will play on Tuesday for a trip to the Super Bowl.But St. Mary’s is on the outside looking in because of its 18-6 loss to Cardinal Spellman back in October.Nonetheless, the 10 wins is one of the best seasons ever for a Spartan team. To be 10-1 is an unbelievable accomplishment for these kids,” St. Mary’s coach Matt Durgin said. “They earned it.”