Classical falls; Winthrop remains perfect

LYNN ? In its game against Winthrop on Friday at Manning Field, the Classical football team came out on top in just about every statistical category — first downs, yards from scrimmage, time of possession — except for the one that counted most.The Vikings’ undefeated season cruised onward as they outlasted a gritty Classical team, 28-14, in a game that was closer than the final score. The Rams committed five turnovers, and allowed an 86-yard kickoff return by Winthrop’s Reise Turransky to open the second half.”Kids make mistakes. They’re 15 and 16-year-old kids. It’s not the NFL,” Classical coach Tim Phelps said. “But what I liked was our effort. We played hard and we kept battling back.”Indeed, the Rams (2-4; 1-3 NEC South) trailed by just four points when Micah Dublin (156 yards-20 carries) rumbled in from 39 yards and Ajayli Booker caught a conversion pass from Matt Lauria with 10:39 left in the game.Winthrop (6-0, 4-0) came back with two touchdowns in a 1:06 span, the first by Jon Gonzalez to cap off a 46-yard, 11-play drive, and then a 42-yard scoring run by Dylan Driscoll one play after Christopher Zuffante came up with the Vikings’ third interception of the game.”That’s a good football team. They were very tough to put away tonight,” Winthrop coach Sean Driscoll said. “They made us do a lot of things we didn’t want to do.”The only touchdown of the first half came on a 6-yard run by Driscoll with 1:12 left in the second quarter, seven plays after a fumble gave the ball to the Vikings at the Rams’ 43. Both teams squandered other opportunities. Winthrop was stopped twice inside the Rams’ 10, the first time on an interception by Booker, who had a tremendous game on both sides of the ball, and on downs after a botched punt gave the Vikings a first-and-goal from the Classical 10.Zach Deeb picked off a pair of passes for the Vikings, one in his own end zone with 5:06 left in the first quarter and the other at the Winthrop 7-yard line to end a threat with 34.9 seconds remaining in the second quarter.Turransky took the kickoff to open the second half and went from left to right, breaking through the coverage at about midfield and out-racing a couple of defenders to the end zone. Turransky caught a 2-point conversion pass to make the score 14-0.Classical answered with an impressive drive that again ended with a turnover, as Jakeel Brown had the ball knocked out just as he was about to cross the goal line, with Winthrop recovering in its own end zone.The Rams got the ball back after a 3-and-out, though, and after Lauria hit Chandler Laguerre for a key 9-yard gain on 3rd-and-3, Dublin took a handoff up the middle and broke into the clear at about the 20-yard line.With the win, the Vikings assured themselves of at least a share of the division title, which they will try to win outright next week against Danvers at Dr. Deering Stadium.The Rams play at home against Revere, likely with a playoff berth at stake.”Our goal is to get into the playoffs, and if we get in anything can happen,” Phelps said.