Sakowich, Toe lift St. Mary’s to dominant win over Tech

LYNN – If it does in fact prove to be the final time that St. Mary’s and Lynn Tech play on Thanksgiving Eve, the Spartans will have a great memory to hold onto. Playing in absolutely miserable conditions, St. Mary?s running backs Abraham Toe and Connor Sakowich led an offensive assault that steamrolled to 44 first-half points on the way to a 44-0 win Wednesday night at Manning Field. Toe and Sakowich combined for 234 yards and five touchdowns in the half. “Both Connor and Abraham were amazing under these conditions,” St. Mary’s coach Matt Durgin said. “That speaks for how talented they are and the offensive line did a great job of blocking in front of them. The Spartans (7-4) piled up 257 yards of total offense in the first half while holding Tech (3-8) to only 90 yards total in the game. Tech’s offense was hampered by not having starting quarterback Rafy Lora in the lineup as he sat out because of injury with Justin Lewis coming in from wide receiver to play under center. “Rafy is a big part of our team and not having him out there able to play the last game of his career hurt me more than anything else,” Tech coach James Runner said. “But hats off to Justin. He stepped up and said that he would take care of it and he did.” St. Mary’s took a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes after Tech botched a snap on an attempted punt and Lewis was tackled in the end zone. After the free kick, Sakowich got his huge night started as he took it 58 yards to the house on St. Mary’s first play from scrimmage to make it 8-0 and begin a trend of lighting-fast Spartans? scoring drives. “Our defense got us jump-started right from the beginning,” Durgin said. “We also got a couple of good breaks.” Tech’s fortunes wouldn’t improve on the next series as Lewis fumbled and the Spartans recovered at the Tech 18. Sakowich went untouched into the end zone on the next snap to give St. Mary?s a 14-0 lead less than four minutes in. St. Mary?s captain Jack Leonard recovered another bad snap in the end zone to make it 20-0 after one quarter. After Tech fumbled to start the second, the Spartans recovered at the Tigers? 30 and turned it into a 28-0 lead when Sakowich scored and Toe added the conversion rush. Toe scored on a 37-yard run, then Tech mounted its best drive of the game. Lewis and Steffan Gravely, who rushed for 83 yards on 13 carries, moved the ball inside the St. Mary’s 10. But Tech would be stopped on downs and the Spartans immediately capitalized as Toe raced 90 yards on the second play to make it 44-0 at the break. The second half was played in running time as the St. Mary’s defense held Tech to one first down over the final two quarters to seal the shutout. “We got a couple of bounces and some things went our way but I give (James) and his team credit,” Durgin said. “They never quit and they played hard right to the end.”