MALDEN — Most schools started their football seasons last week. Thursday, however, saw Lynn Tech and Malden begin their fall journeys.
Last year’s matchup came with a thriller. Tech came back from a 14-0 deficit in the third quarter to win, 20-14. This year brought a similar situation (27-6 at halftime), but no happy ending for Tech. Malden escaped, 27-20.
After a Malden touchdown on its opening drive, it was the Tigers’ turn for offense. That said, on the first play of the season, a fight broke out and the refs tossed out a Lynn Tech running back for throwing a punch.
“We lost our No. 1 running back, so we put a younger guy in and he ran the ball very well,” said Tech coach James Runner.
That younger running back was freshman Anthony Brown, who rose to the occasion with 50 yards rushing on just six attempts.
The Tigers were forced to punt on back-to-back possessions and each punt was returned for a touchdown by Malden’s Johnson Huynh. In the blink of an eye, Malden was ahead, 20-0.
“I give a lot of credit to Malden, but we’re five divisions lower than those guys,” Runner said. “I’m so proud of my kids. If we didn’t have the second punt return, I think it would have been a better game for us.”
At last, the Tigers scored in the second quarter after a 66-yard drive that ended with freshman quarterback Jadiel Ortega taking one himself to the endzone.
The Golden Tornados scored at the end of the first half to give them a 27-6 lead.
In the second half, however, it was all Lynn Tech. The Tigers’ defense stepped up and held the hosts scoreless.
“I was very proud of coach [Marcus] Taylor’s scheme,” Runner said of his defensive coordinator. “We came out with a four-man front and we adjusted to a five. Not only did we adjust to a five, but we ended up playing man-to-man the entire second half. They didn’t score a point in the second half and that’s a testament to what we’ve been trying to do with our program.”
The offense started to find its groove as Ortega threw two touchdown passes – one to Colin McGough for 11 yards and the other to Dereon Phipps for 34.
The Tigers trailed, 27-20, and had a chance to force overtime with 2:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. After a strong run from Brown, the Tigers were near midfield. But on fourth and short, Ortega fired a pass to Eddie Lewis, who couldn’t bring in a pass to turn the ball over on downs.
“I never put things down to one play, but Jadiel made a great throw to Eddie. If he catches that, we’re talking about overtime,” Runner said. “But I’m very proud of the way we responded. I’m sure everybody that was watching the game in the stands was probably saying, ‘This is the Lynn Tech we’re used to seeing.’”
Runner said Thursday night was a win in his book.
“We’re young. We’re loaded with freshmen. My seniors worked their tails off and deserve to have a great senior year. Although we got the L (loss) on the scoreboard, I definitely think we won. I feel like we won this game,” he said. “We’re going to fix what we need to fix and we are definitely going to be a better team moving forward.”
Lynn Tech looks for win No. 1 on Friday, Sept. 20 when it travels to Montachusett Tech for a 6 p.m. game.
