LYNN — For one possession of Friday night’s Division 7 North quarterfinal, it seemed as though No. 5 Georgetown was having its way with No. 4 St. Mary’s.
The Royals marched down to the Spartans’ 4-yard line and St. Mary’s didn’t have much of an answer for Georgetown’s passing game.
Then the Royals fumbled, St. Mary’s recovered and the Spartans ran wild en route to a 49-6 win at Manning Field.
“(Georgetown) came out throwing the ball,” St. Mary’s coach Sean Driscoll said. “They had a nice scheme. We missed a few tackles but we were fortunate to get a fumble inside the 10, twice. I thought we settled into the game halfway through the first quarter and our offense got us through it. Especially after a tough week last week with turnovers. We talked about executing.”
In a game that featured 13 different ball-carriers, it was Jalen Echevarria that did the heavy lifting. Echevarria ran for 145 yards on nine carries and scored two rushing touchdowns. He added a 42-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Derek O’Leary (2-for-2, 72 yards).
“Jalen got his head up right away this week, got into it and practiced well,” Driscoll said. “He was ready to prove himself again. He’s an athlete.”
Connor Donohue (six carries, 38 yards), Mark Niboh, Sal Afflitto and Dennis Davison each scored a rushing touchdown. George Freeman went 3-for-4 on PAT’s.
“We had 13 different players get carries tonight, which is great,” Driscoll said. “A lot of young kids, which is great. If we’re going to be that in the future, trying to control the ball and run the ball like we do at St. Mary’s, I think that’s good for them.”
Alec Colacitti recovered Georgetown’s fumble at the Spartans’ 9 and St. Mary’s drove the ball 91 yards to the end zone. Echevarria capped the possession with a 42-yard touchdown run (PAT failed) with 6:36 to play in the first quarter. Donohue boosted St. Mary’s lead to 14-0 with 2:09 remaining on a 6-yard rush (Donohue conversion). The Royals’ offense found its footing again but a fumble in the St. Mary’s end zone allowed the Spartans to dodge another bullet at the end of the quarter.
Back-to-back touchdowns scored by Echevarria in the second quarter put the Spartans in the driver’s seat. The first was a 42-yard dash (Eni Falayi conversion) and the next score was a 43-yard pass from O’Leary (Freeman PAT). Niboh capped the first half with a 28-yard run through the middle, giving St. Mary’s a 36-0 lead at recess (Freeman PAT).
Afflitto (26-yard rush) and Davison (4-yard rush) scored touchdowns for St. Mary’s in the second half. Hunter Lane’s (three catches, 36 yards) 22-yard touchdown catch put the Royals on the board for their lone touchdown of the night.
The Spartans advance to next weekend’s Division 7 North semifinal at No. 1 Greater Lawrence. The Reggies defeated No. 8 Lowell Catholic, 40-15, Friday night.
“Going forward we’ll try to build off this and correct our mistakes,” Driscoll said. “Nobody’s ever going to be perfect but every game in the tournament always gets bigger and bigger. That’s what we’re preaching.”
