EVERETT — The Lynn Tech football players picked an inopportune time to be a little off of their game Saturday night.
The result a 24-0 loss to Pope John in the Division 8 North semifinal round Saturday night at Everett Stadium.
Pope John took advantage of a couple of Tech miscues to build a 24-0 lead at the end of the first half, and the Tigers couldn’t take advantage of three takeaways that could have changed the game around.
Tech coach James Runner said his team did not play its best game. However, Pope John had a lot to do with that, allowing Tech just six first downs and 80 yards of total offense.
“My hat goes off to those guys, they deserve all the respect in the world. They shut us right down. They played a great game, “ Runner said.
“We didn’t help ourselves with a lot of missed tackles, and they took advantage of our mistakes. They had a very good defensive scheme against us and really shut us down on offense.”
“I think that Pope John did a very nice job stopping our offense, especially their linebackers and safeties, they really did a great job on us, and I think that that was the big difference in the game. They didn’t allow us to do anything we like to do,” Runner said. “Normally when we get turnovers we get points. But that didn’t happen tonight.”
Tech’s David Barrios made a fantastic pick at the Tiger 7-yard line, swiping Anthony Mejjia’s pass when it looked like Pope John was going to march into the end zone on their first possession.
The Tigers couldn’t make anything happen when they got the ball, and a little bit of trickery backfired, when Tech’s pass on a fake punt fell incomplete, giving Pope John the ball on the Tiger’s 40-yard line.
Pope John’s Greg Smith took the ball in from the six with 1:09 left in the first quarter to put the home team ahead for good. The only thing that didn’t work for Pope John Saturday was conversions; they went 0-4 on PAT attempts.
John Howell-Smith scored twice in the second quarter to bump up the lead to 18-0, running in from seven and 19 yards out. Both of Howell-Smith’s scoring runs were aided by penalties on the Tigers that kept Pope John drives alive.
The rough night for Tech was evident on Pope John’s fourth touchdown. The Tigers coughed up the ball deep in their own territory, and it landed right in the hands of Pope John’s Jesus Rivera, who raced 17 yards into the end zone for the final score of the game with 1:29 left in the first half.
“We didn’t make the plays we usually do and it hurt us tonight,” Runner said. “We could have played better, but Pope John really played a great game.”
