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McCarthy sparks Rangers past Lawrence

Friday, November, 13 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

 METHUEN — John McCarthy couldn’t have picked a better game to be “Johnny on the Spot.”

The Methuen senior and co-captain, who is usually known primarily for his tackling, scored three touchdowns in different ways last night to spark the Rangers (8-2) to a 43-29 victory over never-let-die Lawrence.

The victory sets up a showdown on Thanksgiving at Dracut (8-2), the winner of which will win the MVC small school division and advance to the playoffs.

With the score tied 7-7 in the second quarter, McCarthy returned a kickoff  — with Matt Delmonte setting a great block at midfield— 95 yards to put the Rangers ahead 14-7 at halftime.

In the third quarter, McCarthy caught a 26-yard TD pass from Cal Carroll and he capped off his evening with a 95-yard return of a fumble early in the fourth quarter, establishing a 43-7 lead.

“The (fumbled) ball just bounced into my arms, I couldn’t believe it,” said McCarthy. “It’s the first time I ever scored like that, and it was the first time I ever returned a kickoff all the way.

“It was a lot of fun. But I’m more excited with just winning this game, especially in the last home game for the seniors. My grandmother wanted to come, but she couldn’t because she’s sick. So I was playing this game for her.”

Offensively, it was another big game for Carroll, who opened the scoring in the first quarter with the first of two TD passes to Raudy Minaya and finished with 120 yards rushing and 122 yards passing.  Nick Bourgoin ran as hard as he has all year and chipped in with 65 yards and a touchdown.

Until the fourth quarter, when Lawrence scored three times on the Methuen reserves, the Rangers’ defense also played well. Juniors Mike Harper and Jason Doyle were among the more fiesty defenders.

“The offense gets you in the paper, but the defense wins games,” said McCarthy. “We have stayed quiet on defense and have just done the job.”

Agreed Methuen coach Pat Graham: “It’s been like this all year. We’re not big, and we’re not fast (on defense) , but we’re scrappy and work hard at it.

“I don’t think we played as good as we can tonight — we didn’t come out with the usual intensity that we have — but we got the job done and I’m thrilled to be 8-2. I had no idea how good we could be this year because we have so many young guys.”

Trailing 43-7, Lawrence staged an impressive flurry in the fourth quarter with three quick touchdowns, two of which came after successful on-side kickoffs.

Harvey Blanco began the surge with a 16-yard scoring run and Mike Calzetta followed the two recovered kickoffs with a pair of TD receptions from Nick Elwell, who threw for 221 yards on the night.

Blanco enjoyed a fine game on the ground with 139 yards rushing on 17 carries and Calzetta proved all but impossible to cover as he caught eight passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns.