READING — Thanks in large part to a 20-point explosion in the third quarter, the Lynn Tech football team took down Austin Prep, 27-6, in the annual Thanksgiving Eve game at Father Seymour Field on Wednesday night.
The Tigers were led by star running back Steffan Gravely, who rushed 13 times for 106 yards and also had a 65-yard punt return touchdown. Running backs Chance Buono (three rushes for 37 yards) and Keoni Gaskin (one rush for 21 yards) both scored rushing touchdowns in limited action, while senior Jamie James had a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“Obviously it feels good to get the win on Thanksgiving, especially here,” said Tech coach James Runner, whose team has now won two straight Thanksgiving matchups against the Cougars. “Last time we were here (two years ago) we lost 43-26, so a lot of us wanted to come back and get the win on this field.”
It was a slow start for both teams in this one. Austin Prep put together a pair of long drives but couldn’t capitalize, and the normally dominant offensive line of the Tigers couldn’t seem to get the push that it usually does in the early stages of games.
The only true highlight of the first half came with just under three minutes left in the first quarter. After two straight incompletions, the Cougars were forced to punt from near midfield. Back to receive the punt was Gravely, who caught the ball at his own 35 yard-line, darted through a group of defenders and broke free for a 65-yard touchdown return to put Tech on the board at 7-0.
“To be honest, I called that punt return at the last second,” said Runner. “We were just going to fair-catch it, but we decided to bring it back and try to get some field position and it worked out well for us.”
The second quarter was almost entirely owned by Austin Prep, but the Cougars still couldn’t get any points out of it. After grabbing an interception on the first play of the second quarter, the Austin Prep offense was forced into a three-and-out. After forcing Tech into its own three-and-out, the Cougars got the ball back and engineered a 14-play drive that took up over five minutes, but again they couldn’t score. Even after forcing a fumble, getting the ball back and moving up to the two-yard line with two seconds left in the half, the Cougars were stopped short and ended the half with no points.
The second half is where Tech came alive. After receiving the second half kickoff, the Tigers rode on the back of Gravely for 61 yards to move into the redzone. After Gravely was shaken up on a run, Gaskin picked up right where Gravely left off and busted a 21-yard touchdown run to put Tech up by two touchdowns.
But Austin Prep was looking to steal the momentum, especially after fullback Michael Joyce returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to the Tech 15 yard-line. Just two plays later, Austin Prep quarterback Matt Rubino threw a pass over the middle that was picked off by James and returned 90 yards to the house, blowing the game open.
After Buono broke through a hole and rushed for a 30-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, the Tigers had the game effectively locked up. Austin Prep did score with 22 seconds left in the game to avoid the shutout, when Rubino hit running back Jake Thain for a 33-yard touchdown pass.
The Tigers (11-1) aren’t done yet, as they have a chance to play for the Massachusetts Vocational Athletic Directors Association (MVADA) championship next Thursday night against Nashoba Tech.
