Crusaders stayed hungry for this one

For the overwhelming majority of high school football teams, Thanksgiving Day represents the conclusion of a long and draining season. This however, was not the case for Bishop Fenwick Thursday morning as its match up with Pingree was just the prelude to something much bigger.The Crusaders will play for the Division 5 Super Bowl on Dec. 7 against Northbridge at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. Such a reality could (and maybe should) have allowed Fenwick to view their Turkey Day tilt as a tune-up game, but this proved not to be the case.The Crusaders defeated a very good Pingree team 36-27 to finish their regular season at 12-0. The victory also was significant because it allowed a group of 13 senior?s one last happy memory at Donaldson Field.?It definitely meant a lot to get this win, especially with it being our last game on this field,” said Crusaders’ senior receiver Eric Razney. “For four years, I?ve made a lot of great memories here and I added another today against a team who was hungry to take our season away from us.”It certainly wasn?t easy for Fenwick, as coach Dave Woods decided to give star running back Rufus Rushins the day off in order to heal up a bit from a nagging injury that forced him to miss some time.Despite the absence, the Fenwick coaching staff and the players refused to look past Pingree.?We reviewed film and prepped for them just like it was any other regular season game,” explained Crusaders coach Dave Woods. “It was a short week however with a lot of distractions between Thanksgiving and the upcoming Super Bowl but we did a good job in staying focused.”Fenwick scored the game?s first nine points, as the host?s defense recorded a safety and fumble return for a touchdown to take a 9-0 lead in the first quarter. The Highlanders responded with three scores in the second period, the last with just four seconds to play in the half.Perhaps it was the thought of a potential blemish on their perfect record that spurred the Crusaders to outscore their opponents 20-7 over the final 22 minutes, but the host?s came out a lot stronger in the second half.?We knew from the start we couldn?t take them lightly,” said Razney of Pingree, which played as good a game against Fenwick as any team this season.?Coach Woods told us that this was their Super Bowl and that they would come out strong and they did. We responded in the second half, however. We knew it wouldn?t be a good feeling going into the Super Bowl at 11-1. We wanted to stay undefeated.”Although noticeable, the absence of Rushins didn?t prove deadly as the Crusaders turned instead to their running depth. Junior running back Rob Carrillo scored on a pair of 11-yard runs before senior quarterback Nick Bona?s five-yard touchdown run with 3:45 to go put things to bed.?We have a lot of character guys on this team and you got to see some of them step up today,” said Woods. “A guy like Rob got a chance today to show what he can do. Obviously with Rufus on the field he doesn?t get as many chances but he took advantage of the situation today and did a great job for us.”Razney concurred.?I mean, obviously when we don?t have him it?s going to take some pressure off their defense,” said Razney of the differences with and without Rushins. “Even without him, I still thought we did very well today. Our defense played a good game today and our offensive line stepped up in the second half and did their jobs very well.”