LYNN – The tone was set from the opening kickoff on Wednesday night when St. Mary’s Todd Collier returned it 88 yards for a touchdown. By the time the Spartans were done, they had racked up 309 rushing yards and cruised to a 44-8 win over Lynn Tech at Manning Field.Click here for a photo gallery of this game.”We came out and played (Wednesday) like we have all year,” St. Mary’s coach Matt Durgin said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game with the kickoff return.”The Spartans (9-2) were nearly as dominant on defense as they were on the offensive side of the ball. Until the Tigers (7-4) put together a 48-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes, St. Mary’s had held Tech under 50 total yards in the game as they constantly harried Kennedy Gomes in the backfield.”We had a good scheme going in and they took us right out of it,” Tech coach James Runner said. “Matt does a really good job in getting his kids ready and (Collier) was outstanding as usual.”Tech went three-and-out on its first possession following Collier’s kick return and it took only four plays for the Spartans to strike again as Cory Donahue (12-112) did the honors from 32 yards out for a 14-0 lead less than four minutes in.The Tigers drove into St. Mary’s territory, reaching the 28, but Gomes’ fourth down pass went incomplete. On the second play of the next series, Spartan fullback Xavier Gonzalez rumbled 60 yards to the Tech 15 on the last play of the first.Donahue went the rest of the way on the first snap of the second quarter with Collier’s conversion rush upping the gap to 22-0.Tech again drove deep into Spartan territory but the front line for St. Mary’s stuffed Gomes’ fourth-and-three rush attempt for a loss.”The defense came out and did a really good job,” Durgin said. “They’ve played that way all year.”It took five plays and a little over two minutes for the Spartans to get on the board again with Collier doing the honors on a weaving 60-yard jaunt down the right sideline to make it 28-0 with 4:29 left in the half.Things went from bad to worse for Tech on the next series as Jake Cassidy picked off a Gomes pass and returned it to the Tech 28. Five plays later, Gonzalez bulled in from the four for a 36-0 halftime lead after a 2-point conversion from Collier.Tech went three-and-out to begin the third quarter, giving the ball back to the red hot St. Mary’s offense.Donahue and Collier then went about capping their careers on a high note. On a 7-play, 59-yard march to another touchdown, Donahue eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark on the year and Collier capped the drive with a 5-yard run and 2-point conversion to give him almost 200 points for the year.”Those guys have been so, so consistent for us this year,” Durgin said.The Tigers kept fighting and put together a nice drive in the final period after a short punt. Gomes capped an 8-play, 48-yard march with a 5-yard run with 1:50 remaining. Pedro Martinez’s 2-point convert capped the scoring.”We took one on the chin, but we need to move on from it,” Runner said. “No matter what happens, 7-4 is a great year for us.”