RallyNorth.net

Reggies go dark in opener

Saturday, September, 06 By Jeff Hamrick

ANDOVER — Greater Lawrence chose the wrong occasion to break out the school's new home football uniform.

"It wasn't the sun, it was the humidity," Reggie coach Tony Sarkis said. "But that's no excuse for mistakes. It is what is is. I mean, how many yards in penalties did we have?"

What Sarkis avoided making alibis for was a 27-6 opening-day defeat to Somerville in a contest the Reggies made enough mistakes to keep their coach busy critiquing film for much longer than he's enjoying the viewing.

Fresh off the rack, the Reggies showed off their almost exclusively black ensemble on what might have been the warmest and muggiest morning of the summer. While the heat was draining, Greater Lawrence's performance was frigid from the outset.

The answer to Sarkis' earlier question was 70 (yards) on nine penalties — six of which came in the first half when GL still had some energy.

On a day when officials were quick to throw flags but agonizingly slow in their deliberations — and often negligent in signaling the call — the participants combined for 21 penalties, resulting in 150 reverse yards. The most damaging infraction occured midway through the second period when Yoel Batista's 75-yard kick-return score was negated by a personal foul — a push in the back 25 yards behind the play.

"Penalties killed us," Sarkis said. "With a team like (Somerville) that can score, we needed offensive rhythm and making sure we got going. And we accomplished none of that today."

Joseph Pagan prevented the shutout with a slick 81-yard return of the second-half kickoff that cut Somerville's lead to eight and could have provided a spark.

Greater Lawrence, which returns nine starters from a 5-6 club, finished with 100 yards rushing, but 31 of them came on three plays. The Reggies averaged a mere 2.3 yards on their other 30 attempts.

The defense also had several breakdowns. In addition to a mass of missed tackles, the Reggies surrendered first downs on each of Somerville's three fourth-down attempts. They also gave up chain movers on third-and-10 and third-and-13 situations. One of the positives was provided by a consistent pass rush led by linebacker Shane Dunn, who assisted on two of Greater Lawrence's three sacks.