LYNN — The Tech football team’s home opener didn’t go as planned Friday, with the Tigers falling, 20-6, to Commonwealth Athletic Conference rival Nashoba at Manning Field.
“It didn’t go the way we wanted (Friday),” Tech interim coach Jason McCuish said. “We had a few injuries pile up throughout the game and we’re already a young team as it is so losing those experienced players took its toll.”
Despite the loss, the Tigers still totaled over 179 yards of offense. Gabriel Perez scored the lone touchdown of the day, a 10-yard rush to put the Tigers ahead, 6-0, at the time after a failed two-point conversion.
“We actually got off to a good start,” McCuish said. “We got the ball first, drove right down the field and punched it in.”
Unfortunately that was the only score of the night, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort from the Tigers defense. Tech forced three turnovers and kept Nashoba at bay at their goal line multiple times throughout the night.
“Our defense played solid all night,” McCuish said. “They were on the field a lot but we made a couple goal-line stands, intercepted a pair of passes and recovered a fumble.”
Tech was able to turn those opportunities into some decent yardage throughout the night, but just couldn’t punch it in. A Tigers fumble, recovered by Nashoba in the end zone put Tech in a 7-6 hole before the half.
The second half was all about Nashoba’s passing game. Quarterback Murphy Senical connected with Randy Leblanc twice for touchdowns — once on a 75-yard score and again from six yards out — to close out the win for Nashoba.
Next up for the Tigers (1-1) is Lynn rival KIPP on Friday (7:30). Last week, that same Panthers team beat Nashoba 40-2 in a rout at home.
“We have to get back, look at the film and see what we did wrong,” McCuish said. “It’s our Lynn rival, we know that, so we have to make our adjustments.”
