RallyNorth.net

Reggies struggle in opener

Saturday, September, 13 By Bill O'Connor
Staff writer

SOMERVILLE — Greater Lawrence managed only 118 yards of total offense last night as the Reggies fell 21-7 to Somerville High School at Dilboy Stadium.

“We’re a young team,” Greater Lawrence head coach Tony Sarkis said of his club, the defending Division 4 Super Bowl champion. “We have a lot of young guys out there who do make mistakes, but I think as the year goes on, as it progresses, we’re going to be ok.”

Light rain began falling about an hour before game time and put the brakes on both teams’ passing games; only 12 passing plays were called between all game, four by Somerville and eight by the Reggies.

After a scoreless first quarter, Somerville’s halfbacks, led by junior Jeff Guzman, who finished with 47 yards rushing and two touchdowns, pounded the ball 56 yards downfield on six carries. The drive culminated in a 1-yard Guzman touchdown run with 6:42 left in the half to put the game’s first points on the board. A Guzman conversion run made it 8-0 Highlanders.

Somerville scored again on its very next possession, this time driving 62 yards on the ground before handing the ball to Guzman for his second touchdown, a 5-yard run with 0:59 left in the half. An attempted 2-point conversion was stopped in the backfield leaving the score at 14-0 Somerville.

Halfback Cassius Belfon scored the Highlanders final touchdown on a <1/2>-yard run with 40 seconds left in the third quarter. The good extra point try by Murilo Zanette made it 21-0.

Sophomore Paul Menjivar, who also led Greater Lawrence in rushing with 25 yards, scored the Reggies’ lone touchdown on a 2-yard run with less than a minute to play.