It’s a strong opening for English

MANCHESTER – Senior captain Josh Bautista maximized his offensive output on minimal touches, junior quarterback Chris Lessard turned in an efficient debut and Lynn English demonstrated it still has plenty left in its arsenal despite heavy graduation losses as it pulled away from Gloucester Friday night, 28-7.Bautista (4 carries, 124 yards) scored on runs of two, 76 and 46 yards; Lessard rushed for 65 yards and completed 3-of-8 passes for 113 yards and a 43-yard scoring strike to sophomore Lucas Harris; and the defense, despite yielding more yards (239) than it would?ve liked, turned the Fishermen back on three possessions inside the 10-yard line in the second and third quarters.?We?ve got some athletes and they all made athletic plays at various times. We gutted it out – it was 85 degrees and humid but these kids are tough, made of metal. All of our linemen went both ways,” said coach Peter Holey. “We bent but didn?t break on defense. We had some breakdowns against the Wing-T but we came back and made big plays when we needed to. We finished.”The Bulldogs struck first when Bautista punched in from two yards to cap a six-play, 70-yard drive with 4:15 left in the first quarter. Lessard?s perfectly timed third-down slant pass to Cam Haggerty split the Gloucester secondary and produced a 64-yard gain to the Gloucester six. Bautista scored three plays later.Gloucester?s ensuing 12-play drive died despite a nine-yard run by Zach Smith (27 carries, 128 yards) that produced first-and-goal at the one. A penalty and Isaiah Davis?s nine-yard sack of quarterback Santo Parisi killed the threat. It was but a momentary reprieve for the Bulldogs as Jon Good?s interception of Lessard?s swing pass set up Gloucester at the Lynn English 15. Smith rolled in for the score from seven yards on 4th-and-2 and Parisi?s PAT tied it at 7-7 with 3:54 left in the half.English responded almost immediately, aided by a personal foul against the Fishermen that pushed the ball to the Gloucester 43 after Davis?s 11-yard run. On the next play Lessard rolled right and found Harris wide open behind the Gloucester secondary for the score. Lessard?s kick made it 14-7 with 3:33 left in the half.Again, Gloucester launched a promising march but turned the ball over on downs at the English seven with less than a minute to go in the half. It was more of the same to start the second half as the Fishermen rolled 60 yards to the Bulldogs? 14 off the opening kickoff. Harris, though, pilfered Parisi?s pass at the goal line and returned it to his 13.?That?s the play of the game right there. Lucas is only a sophomore but is a tremendous athlete,” said Holey.On the first play after an English possession was extended by a Gloucester personal foul on a punt, Bautista blew through a hole on the left side and raced 76 unimpeded yards for his second touchdown with 4:22 left in the third quarter. He added the exclamation point with a weaving 46-yard dash with 2:42 to play.?Josh is a burner – he ran a 4.39 40 at a National Combine in Ohio during the summer. I?m really proud of him,” said Holey.