Tough first half dooms Tech

BUZZARDS BAY – The Tech football team had a first half it would probably like to forget in a 36-14 loss to Pope John Paul II Friday at Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay.The Tigers found themselves in a big hole early on after the Lions took a 36-0 lead in the first half. Tech got all its points in the fourth quarter with Steffan Gravely scoring on a 49-yard run to the right and then barreling in for the conversion to make it 36-8. Quarterback Rafy Lora took it in from the two after a fake handoff for the other six points. Devin Phean had a 17-yard run in that series and Gravely a five-yard pickup.”It was a great opportunity to see the character of this team,” Tech coach James Runner said. “I want to go against the best teams and tonight I think we learned a big lesson, as a team and a coaching staff.”The Tigers struggled with turnovers (there were six in all) and the mistakes proved costly.”There were too many simple, mental breakdowns, Runner said.Tech will be home Friday against Nashoba Valley.”We need to fix our mistakes from tonight and improve as a team,” Runner said. “We’re a lot better than we showed.”Pope John scored its first touchdown on a fourth-and-eighth situation . Sean Reardon faked the punt and raced 62 yards into the end zone.. The Lions recovered a Tech fumbled snap on the next series and three plays later, quarterback Ryan Barabe hit Cole Campbell with a 22-yard pass for a 12-0 lead (rush failed).The Lions scored again on an 11-yard run by Diego Meritus (96 yards, 2 touchdowns) with 6:25 left in the half with Johnny Warden running it in for the conversion and a 20-0 lead. The Tigers luck went from bad to worse when Lora completed a pass to Justin Lewis on the next drive, but a hard it to Lewis resulted in a fumble and the Lions recovered on the Tech 23.Barabe promptly found Tim Jordan with a 22-yard pass to put the ball on the one and Reardon stuffed it in for the six points. He also ran for the conversion to put the Lions up 28-0. Pope John found the end zone once more before intermission when Tech back-up quarterback Conner Robertson was intercepted and two plays later, Meritus took it in from the eight and ran for the conversion.”Meritus did a great job running the ball,” Runner said. “Their quarterback did a great job staying in the pocket and finding receivers,”