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Reggies rally late, blank Whittier

ANDOVER — With a sluggish offense needing a spark, the Greater Lawrence defense provided just that.

In a scoreless battle with Commonwealth Conference rival Whitter, the Reggies appeared ready for a look at the end zone early in the fourth quarter. A lost fumble at the Wildcat 1 on a first-down run, however, ended that hope.

But defensive linemen Contreras Humberfy did find the end zone on Whittier’s ensuing play, tackling A.J. Espinal for a safety and the game’s first points.

“That kid’s a heck of a player,” teammate Vinny Schmidt said of Humberfy. “He’s a captain right there. He’ll do anything for this team. We’ve been through a lot, but we’re family at the end of the day.”

After a Whittier punt set up the Reggies at their own 48, it was Schmidt who finally lifted the offense. Held without a carry the first three quarters, Schmidt went 52 yards on his fourth attempt to give Commonwealth Conference Large champ Greater Lawrence an 8-0 lead with nine minutes remaining. Donny Croteau had an outstanding downfield block to free Schmidt down the sideline.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” said Schmidt, whose only other varsity touchdown came via an 11-yard Thanksgiving Day run against Whittier last year. “I got my blocks from my team — the whole line and the receiving corps. I just waited for my time.“

The Reggies, who held the Wildcats to 70 yards total offense, forced a punt from their own 2 on the ensuing possession.

This time it was Schmidt with a partial block setting up Croteau, who hauled in the wobbling kick at the 15 and scampered into the end zone with 6:43 remaining. An Ader Mezidor conversion run provided the game’s final points in the 16-0 win.

“I honestly didn’t know where I was on the field when I caught it, so I just started running to the pylon,” said Croteau, who also recovered a Whittier fumble. “(The game) started out slow, but we picked it up at the end.”

Whittier, which lost a fumble at the Greater Lawrence 25 on its first possession, had its best chance to score with less than 2 minutes left, but sophomore linemen Nathan Guirindongo forced a fumble at the Reggie 5 to end that opportunity.

“It was a great job by these kids,” said Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis, who wore his patented gym shorts and windbreaker despite temperatures of 26 degrees late in the game. “Defensively, they came to play and did enough to keep us in the game. I give credit to coach (Steve) Berard, our defensive coordinator, who put together a good plan for us.”

It was Greater Lawrence’s fourth straight win over Whittier, which has been outscored 154-34 in those Thanksgiving Day games.

Cats coach Kevin Bradley was upbeat afterward.He said, “Five-and-six with all the people we lost from the year before, if you ask our coaches, we’ll all say we succeeded better than we thought we would. I can’t say enough about the seniors who stepped up for us this year with only two starters coming back.”Vocational playoff

Greater Lawrence (9-3) will play CAC runner-up Northeast for the State Vocational Large School championship at 6 p.m. next Thursday at Wakefield High. The Reggies defeated Northeast 29-28 in an October road game.

“We have to get over this and have a good Thanksgiving and get all rested up,” Schmidt said. “Then we have to do what we have to do to win and bring a ring back.”

Greater Lawrence 16, Whittier 0

Whittier (0-4 CAC, 5-6)  0  0  0  0 – 0

Greater Lawrence (4-0, 9-3) 0  0  0  16 – 16

FOURTH QUARTERSafety, Contreras Humberfy tackle runner in end zone, 9:29Vinny Schmidt 52 run (run failed) 9:03

Donnie Croteau 15 punt return (Ader Mezidor run) 6:43

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: WHITTIER (41-70) – AJ Espinal 20-78, Tyler Flodstrom 9-6, Hector Gomez 1-4, Robby McGrail 7-3, Crisdaury Ayala 2-(-2), Shane O’Brien 1-(-3), Team 1-(-16); GR. LAWRENCE (31-201)– Vinny Schmidt 4-79, Ader Mezidor 11-66, Jose Caceres 8-27, Donnie Croteau 4-22, Shamil Diaz 1-(-4), Team 1-(-11)

Passing: WHITTIER– Tyler Flodstrom 0-4-0; GR. LAWRENCE– Jose Caceres 3-5-0, 46 yards

Receiving: GR. LAWRENCE – Donnie Croteau 1-35, Ader Mezidor 1-5, Shamil Diaz 1-4