LYNN — On a Saturday night defined by heavy rain and wind at Manning field, the Tech football team was able to execute its biggest play through its passing game.
With less than a minute remaining in the first half and the wind to their backs, the Tigers ran their only pass of the game with quarterback David Barrios finding a wide-open Robert Wallace for a 29-yard touchdown pass to take an early lead.
“It’s funny,” Tech coach James Runner said of the play call. “I never call plays but I told my coordinator, ‘They are not looking for it.’ They weren’t ready for it, everyone was in the box waiting for us to run the ball.”
The play ended up being the key difference in the Tigers’ 14-0 win over Roxbury Charter in a Division 8 quarter final.
“Robert Wallace has been doing that for us all year,” Runner said. “We try to keep it low key because we don’t want people to recognize that we have a tight end who can catch the ball. It was something that we worked on at practice but haven’t really played it in a game. We did it once last week and it was just something that was there and David put it right on the money.
“The elements didn’t really help either team out,” Runner added. “We knew with the type of game style that we play that we would love to play in the rain. It’s just what we do. We’ve been practicing it all week. That’s just the motto of who we are as a team.”
The Tigers defense had no trouble shutting down the speedy running game of Roxbury Charter, holding it to less than 150 yards.
“Defensively we played really well,” Runner said. “I’m really proud of my coordinator for the scheme that we had going into the game. Defensively we held the edge which is what we wanted to do. We knew coming into the game that they were going to try to get the edge on us.”
With wet conditions, each team traded fumbles early in the first half but neither offense was able to drive past midfield on the turnover chances.
Tech was the first to capitalize on drive after the running game of Chase Buono (61 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown) put it in scoring position. Barrios then hit Wallace on the 29-yard score to give the Tigers a 6-0 halftime lead.
In the second half the Tigers leaned on the tough running game of Emerson Ramirez (48 rushing yards) to kill most of the remaining clock during their possessions.
“It was an adjustment that my coordinator made,” Runner said of Ramirez’s role in the second half. “We knew they were putting a lot of guys in the box so we actually took our two big guys and put them at tight ends. It was substantial for us because it opened up a lot of plays.
“Emerson’s a short guy but he plays like a grown man at middle linebacker and running back,” Runner added. “Nobody can see him running the ball, it was a great adjustment and it kept them on their toes.”
After a huge stop on one of Roxbury Charter’s last efforts to try to even the game on a 4th-and-14, the Tigers added another touchdown on a six-yard run by Buono to go ahead 14-0.
“Even if it were dry I think it would have been a similar game,” Runner said. “We were prepared for everything. We were ready for their plays, the counters, the double reverses, we were ready for all of that.”
The win makes it the second straight year Runner and the Tigers have advanced past a quarter final game.
“It’s a big testament to our strength and conditioning program,” Runner said. “We have 5 a.m. workouts where the kids are there lifting. It’s a love-hate relationship. They don’t love it too much but when they see the fruits of their labor and what they’ve done, it does pay off.”
The No. 4 seed Tigers will travel to No. 1 Pope John in the Division 8 North semifinal (TBA).
