LYNN — In the 107th annual meeting between the Lynn Classical and Lynn English football teams, it was the Bulldogs who were able to grind out a victory in a 14-6 win at Manning Field on Senior Night. With English’s win, the all-time series now stands at 56-42-9 in favor of Classical.
“It’s always good to beat Classical,” said English coach Chris Carroll. “It’s been such a strange year and the guys have worked so hard, so to see them come up with big plays when we needed them to was great.”
Prior to the game, English honored its group of 17 seniors for their contributions to the program over the years.
Anthony Timmons was the star of the game for English, rushing 21 times for 212 yards and two touchdowns.
“As a senior captain, I’m not surprised,” said Carroll. “He had some big runs and made huge plays during the game, but nothing was bigger than that interception at the end of the game to seal it.”
Maggs, also a senior captain, completed 5-of-9 passes for 70 yards in the win.
For Classical, Marquese Avery led the rushing attack with 79 yards on the ground. Kyle Durant added 47 total yards from scrimmage and one touchdown.
“It was just another great battle with a great atmosphere,” said Classical coach Brian Vaughan. “I thought we played well for the most part, but we had some breakdowns defensively and unfortunately we didn’t get the outcome we wanted.”
After battling to a scoreless tie through most of the first half, Classical was finally able to break through with just over three minutes to play in the second quarter. After getting the ball back with 9:45 to play, the Rams went on a 12-play, 90-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the clock. Classical capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run from Durant to take a 6-0 lead.
But English answered right back. Taking just six plays, the Bulldogs marched down the field on the back of Timmons (who rushed for 61 yards on the drive). Timmons ended up breaking free for a 21-yard touchdown run, then Maggs found Joshua McDonald on the two-point conversion to take a 8-6 lead going into the halftime break.
The Bulldogs took that momentum right into the second half, forcing a three-and-out on defense and then marching down the field for a 77-yard touchdown drive. Timmons capped it off once again, this time rushing for a 10-yard touchdown to make it 14-6 English.
The score held from there, and even though the Rams got a late goal-line stand and had a chance to drive at the end, Timmons notched the game-clinching interception with two minutes to go to seal the win for English.
Classical (1-2) closes out the season next Friday (6) against Everett.
“We know we have a big test in Everett next week, so we’re going to hit it hard in practice this week and try to be ready to go next Friday,” said Vaughan.”
English (1-2) finishes its shortened season next Friday (6) on the road at Chelsea.
“If we can get to 2-2, it would be a solid way to send the seniors off,” said Carroll. “Not to mention, it’s a quick turnaround for next fall and we’ll have a lot of guys coming back, so heading into the offseason with some momentum would be great.”