ANDOVER– St. Mary’s football coach Sean Driscoll knows growing pains are expected with a young roster. Although it didn’t seem like it after the final whistle blew, Saturday’s 33-8 loss to No. 2 Greater Lawrence in the Division 7 North state tournament quarterfinal at Louis E. Gleason Coliseum was all about the Spartans’ youth gaining valuable experience.
“It’s great for our young guys to play in a physical game like this,” Spartans coach Sean Driscoll said. “They battled a little bit. I think it showed where we need to work and where we lack as a team right now. We’ll take it from there.”
The theme of the game for No. 7 St. Mary’s was offensive woes. St. Mary’s couldn’t pick up any rhythm and when it seemed like the Spartans were finally moving the chains, it was one step forward and two steps back.
“We couldn’t get anything going,” Driscoll said. “Once we got something going, we either had a penalty or someone didn’t execute a block. We just couldn’t execute for a steady pace on a drive, which is tough to do in high school football.”
Defensively, St. Mary’s struggled to keep pace with Greater Lawrence’s running game. Quarterback Shamil Diaz and running back Maleek Dejesus powered their Reggies with two rushing touchdowns apiece.
“They’re very skilled, especially in their backfield,” Driscoll said. “But as good as those guys are, their offensive and defensive lines beat us. They beat us pretty good.”
The Spartans made two crucial mistakes out of the gate, fumbling away the opening kickoff and tossing an interception in the first quarter. They weathered the storm on the first turnover but the Reggies made them pay for the second one, sealing a 50-yard drive on Franklyn Espinal’s 25-yard touchdown run (conversion failed).
“When you play in a big game, you can’t turn the ball over three times,” Driscoll said. “You can’t fumble the opening kickoff. That’s a tribute to young guys being out there but no excuses. When you can’t move the football, it’s tough against a fast, solid team.”
Diaz cushioned the lead to 12-0 on a 4-yard keeper midway through the second quarter (conversion failed). Dejesus joined in on the fun with a 6-yard touchdown run four minutes later (Diaz conversion). St. Mary’s marched the ball to midfield in the closing seconds of the half, but Raymond Acevedo’s sack of quarterback Derek O’Leary ended the drive. The Spartans trailed 20-0 at halftime.
St. Mary’s recovered Greater Lawrence’s fumble on the opening kick of the second half. But, again, the offense stalled when the Spartans needed a spark. The Reggies held St. Mary’s short on 4th-and-1 from Greater Lawrence’s 39 and put the game away from there. Dejesus ran one in from 12 yards out (conversion failed) and Diaz added a 15-yard touchdown scamper (Kevin Matul PAT) to put the Reggies up 33-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
O’Leary scored St. Mary’s lone touchdown on a 4-yard keeper in the closing minutes. Sal Afflitto added the 2-point conversion via rush.
St. Mary’s now falls into the non-playoff bracket. The Spartans’ next opponent is yet to be announced.
“We have a young team and we’ll see how our pride is now,” Driscoll said. “We’ll be ready to go for our next game. We’ll prepare for it. Every game’s a game, it’s still a competition. We have to prepare for it. We have three games left. We want to finish 7-4. To finish on a high note would be a good thing.”
