RallyNorth.net

DRACUT — Seems pretty insignificant, just two plays out of 121 run last night. But that pair might have deep-sixed Central Catholic’s shot at a huge Merrimack Valley Conference victory as the Raiders eventually fell to Dracut, 20-14.

Especially in the second half, Central (now 2-2) held its own. Quarterback Shain Jowett got Wing-T-style, clock-grinding production out of a spread offense. The defense pulled together behind end Zak Adamopoulos and linebacker Mike Amaral to throw a monkey wrench into the Middies’ impressive attack.

However, the first half was another matter as the Raiders left at least 10 game-changing points on the field due to crucial red-zone errors.

On its first possession of the game, Cam Fisichelli’s 33-yard kickoff return, three Jowett pass completions and a 15-yard Dracut penalty moved Central smartly to the Dracut 10-yard line. A third-down play ended tragically as a Raider fumble was recovered by Middie Ryan Diffenbacher at the 5 to kill the threat.

After Dracut, now 3-1, broke the ice on an 85-yard second-quarter march ended by QB Matt Grimard’s 8-yard scoring run, successive long-distance romps by Jowett (71 yards on running plays) and Fisichelli (39 yards) moved Central to the Middie 4. But a center snap over Jowett’s head turned into a 24-yard sack and a 36-yard field goal attempt fell inches short.

Adding insult to injury, Dracut rode Jon Rivera (140 yards on 19 carries) and Grimard (92 yards rushing) to a five-play, 80-yard TD drive after the failed field goal. Rivera’s first of two TDs, coming from 15 yards out, gave the Middies a 14-0 lead with 1 1/2 minutes to go to halftime.

"In a game like this, we can’t squander our opportunities," Raiders head coach Chuck Adamopoulos said. "And in the second quarter, we went through a spurt where we stopped doing some responses defensively and they hurt us. In the second half, we did a better job of it but the second quarter breakdown hurt us."

Central climbed back into the contest when Amaral forced an early fumble recovered by teammate Zack Lattrell at the Dracut 32. Seven plays later, Jowett muscled his way in from seven yards out on fourth down to make it a one possession game at 14-7.

Dracut answered late in the quarter for the eventual winning tally, but Central wasn’t done.

A textbook 14-play, 80-yard march highlighted by a trio of fine Jowett passes netted a 6-yard Lattrell reception for six points, with the defense following by forcing a three-and-out. But the Raiders’ offense faltered and Dracut was able to run out the clock.

"We played tough and they played tough," Adamopoulos said. "We just came up a bit short."