Dublin runs wild as Classical wins

LYNN – Micah Dublin had to wait his turn to get his chance in the Classical backfield but boy did the senior take advantage of his first career start on Friday night against Gloucester at Manning Field.View Photo GalleryDublin torched the Fishermen for 240 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries as the Rams jumped out to a 27-6 lead in the second quarter and then hung on down the stretch for a hard-fought 27-20 win in their season opener.”Micah certainly was excellent,” Classical coach Tim Phelps said. “He stepped up in the offseason and embraced this opportunity. If we can keep him healthy, we expect big things from him this season.”After going up and down the field on Gloucester’s defense for much of the first half, the Rams began to run out of gas in the second half as temperatures in the high 80’s began to wear them out.The Fishermen took full advantage by going on time consuming drives in the third quarter, scoring a touchdown on their first as fullback John Salvi-Souza (28-170) plowed in from the five to cut the lead to 27-12.Moments later, Classical would run its only two plays of the third as Dublin gained four before a bad snap to Matt Lauria resulted in a safety. Gloucester would get the ball back with 4:23 left in the third and systematically marched into Rams territory as the fourth period commenced.The Classical defense then came up with its biggest play of the game as Marcus Rivera picked off a Mike Cody pass inside the 20 on fourth down. Moments later, Eli McConney hit Damien Earp for a 35 yard gain to the Fisheremen 30 but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty backed the Rams up 15.The mistake proved costly as Classical would turn it over on downs with 7:46 left. Gloucester quickly moved into Rams territory on the legs of Salvi-Souza but on first down from the 28, McConney picked off an errant pass to thwart the Fishermen.Unfortunately for Classical, they immediately gave the ball right back to Gloucester as Andrew Latassa picked off a pass at the 17. Four plays later, Salvi-Souza bulled in from the three and it was 27-20 with 2:11 to go.The Fishermen went for the onside kick and Classical recovered at midfield. Devlin promptly ripped off a 31 yard gain and then added another first down one play later to salt things away for the Rams.”They play offense so well and don’t make any mistakes that they are able to wear you down,” Phelps said. “But it was great to see the kids stick with it and keep competing. The goal was to be 1-0 after this week and we will take it but there’s still some work to do before Marblehead.”