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Underclassmen power Greater Lawrence

Saturday, October, 30 By Jeff Hamrick

ANDOVER — A quick glance at the Greater Lawrence roster should have fans optimistic about the future. But the young Reggies might just be heading into that future quicker than expected.

Yesterday, they broke open a tight non-conference game with a strong second half to run away from West Roxbury for a convincing 33-12 victory.

“We had two seniors playing today,” Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis said. “Everybody else was an underclassmen.”

Sophomore running back Christian Rivera burst onto the scene with an emphatic 169 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion on 28 carries. Not bad for a kid who went to bed the night before thinking he’d once again be serving as Joe Pizzuto’s backup. But when the senior stalwart was a late scratch when he was suspended for the game for violating team rules, the 6-foot, 190-pound Rivera proved to be more than capable.

“I found out (about starting) this morning about 30 minutes before the game,” said Rivera, who scored Greater Lawrence’s final two touchdowns of the game, breaking open a 20-12 halftime margin. “I had to step it up. I was feeling it pretty good. I just wanted to play. The offensive line did good. They worked hard making holes for me.”

The Reggies (6-2) opened the scoring on a 30-yard pass from senior Jean Carlos Gomez to sophomore Jake Barchard, who made a sensational finger-tip catch between defenders on a nicely lofted pass from Carlos Gomez.

“It was a great feeling to get the first touchdown of the game,” said Barchard, who also plays defensive end and had a fumble recovery and a tackle for a loss. “We came out kind of soft, but we ended up doing it. We woke up and worked our butts off.”

Underclassmen accounted for all but 21 of Greater Lawrence’s 278 yards and also had four of the team’s five fumble recoveries, including two by sophomore linebacker Angel Abreau. Sophomore Jonathan Montero added a 38-yard scoring run on a reverse midway through the second.

“The sophomore class is really doing it,” Barchard said. “We’re working hard in practice and starting to show off. We have seven or eight sophomores starting and it’s just crazy. Hard work does pay off.”

The victory should provide optimism as Greater Lawrence prepares for its toughest stretch on the schedule with games against Shawsheen, Lynn Tech and Whittier — all Commonwealth Conference Large opponents.

“We just need to gel together,” Sarkis said. “We have to do that next week in a big game against Shawsheen. That’s going to be a huge game, and we’re going to need everybody playing on all cylinders.

“The next three weeks are huge. They’re all playoff games. That’s the way we look at it.”