LYNN — Friday night just simply wasn’t the No. 1 Lynn Tech football team’s night. A pair of early turnovers, a host of penalties and a number of missed tackles all added up to a 29-8 loss to No. 4 Keefe Tech in the Division 8 North semifinal at Manning Field.
“We shot ourselves in the foot tonight multiple times, and that’s the bottom line,” said Tech coach James Runner. “I’ve got to give credit to Keefe Tech, they’re a well-coached team and they really wanted this win. They played well and we just didn’t execute.”
Gabriel Perez led the way for Tech with 60 rushing yards in the loss, while Haidar Bdaiwi rushed for the Tigers’ only touchdown. Quarterback Luis Pineiro completed 4-of-13 passes for 78 yards.
The Tigers had trouble all night stopping Broncos senior running back Jaydon Francy-Weber, who rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns for Keefe Tech.
“He ran hard out there all night,” Runner said of Francy-Weber. “At the same time, we had a lot, and I mean a lot, of missed tackles. That’s not a great sign when you’re a team that works on tackling as much as we do, but that’s just how it went.”
The Tigers got off to a slow start in this one. Tech committed two turnovers in its first three possessions, one of which led to Keefe Tech’s first touchdown. The Tigers ended up fumbling on their own 36 yard-line to set the Broncos up, and Francy-Weber broke through the middle of the line, shed a tackle and busted a 36-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0.
The next possession wasn’t any better for Tech, as Pineiro threw an interception to give Keefe Tech the ball right back. Luckily for the Tigers, Keefe Tech coughed the ball up on an interception of its own six plays later and the damage was avoided.
Tech took over on its own 32 to open the second quarter, and the Tigers put together a 10-play, 68-yard drive that took up nearly four minutes and was capped off by a one-yard touchdown run from Bdaiwi. After Bdaiwi converted on the two-point play, Tech led 8-7.
But then the Broncos put together the longest drive of the game, running a 13-play drive that took up 7:20 of game time. Once Francy-Weber punched in a two-yard touchdown run, Keefe Tech took a 14-8 lead.
The Tigers tried to mount a last-minute drive after taking over near midfield with 47 seconds left. Tech managed to get down to inside the 5-yard-line on two pass completions, but a sack allowed time to run out before the Tigers could score.
The second half wasn’t much better. Keefe Tech opened the half with the ball and only needed four plays — including a 55-yard gallop by Francy-Weber — to find the end zone. Francy-Weber capped off the drive with a four-yard touchdown run to make it 21-8.
On the first play of the ensuing drive for Tech, the ball was snapped over Pineiro’s head all the way into the end zone, where he recovered the ball for a safety to make it 23-8.
Keefe Tech capped off the scoring midway through the fourth quarter when Richard Boston punched in a 2-yard run.
While the MIAA tournament run is now over for Tech, the Tigers’ season isn’t dead yet. Tech is still waiting to see where it stands in the Massachusetts Vocational Athletic Directors Association tournament, which will shake out over the next three weeks.
“We’ve just got to dust ourselves off and get back to work, because our season isn’t over,” said Runner. “We’re going to break down the film, wait to see where we stand and continue to work.”
Tech will play next Friday against an opponent to be determined.
