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Central rallies, holds off Billerica

Saturday, November, 13 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

BILLERICA — Even without stepping on the field, injured Central Catholic senior Trae Musumarra played a huge role last night.
With the Raiders trailing Billerica at halftime, 28-14, Musumarra gave his teammates a piece of his mind.
“Trae talked to us and got us going,” said classmate and fellow tri-capain Cam Walsh. “We miss him as a player, but he’s still got a lot of spirit and he had us ready to go in the second half.”
Indeed he did. With Walsh leading the way, the Raiders scored three straight touchdowns and then stopped a two-point conversion try in the final minute to prevail with a huge 35-34 victory.
The victory lifted the Raiders to 7-3 overall and 3-0 in the MVC Large, setting up a Thanksgiving showdown with Andover, the winner of which will advance to the playoffs.
No one got Musumarra’s message better than Walsh. Little used in the past as a running back, he rushed 12 times for 149 yards and a touchdown in the second half, also caught a pass for 12 yards and was perfect on the day with five extra-point conversions.
“Being a captain, I felt I had to do something,” said Walsh. “I was ready and the blocking up front was fantastic.”
Walsh also helped the Raiders within striking distance in the first half with a pair of medium-range popup kickoffs.
The first, on the opening kickoff, resulted in a recovered fumble at the Billerica 31-yard line, setting up a five-yard TD pass from Ben Onet to Xavier Peralta, and the second pinned Billerica back on its own 10-yard line.
Other than their opening TD, however, the Raiders did little on offense in the first half, managing just two first downs. If it weren’t for a brilliant 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Santino Brancato, Central would have been in a bigger hole.
Star QB Nick LaSpada led the way for Billerica in the first half, throwing got 133 yards and two touchdowns and running for 143 yards and a touchdown on a sparkling 51-yard scamper.
“LaSpada is a great player, but that’s as bad as we’ve played defensively in the first half,” said Central coach Chuck Adamopoulos. “We weren’t tackling and we weren’t covering.
“But this was a tale of two halves. We really played good football in the second half.”
A Brancato one-yard run and a 10-yard scoring strike from Matt McDermott to Ryan Sullivan tied the score, 28-28, after three quarters and Walsh put the Raiders ahead 35-28 on a 14-yardTD run with 4:35 to play.
But Billerica cashed in on a late Central fumble to score with 59 seconds remaining on an 18-yard strike from LaSpada to Matt Clifford. The Indians then called time out and attempted a two-point conversion pass in the corner of the end zone, only to find Peralta in position to knock the ball down to preserve the one-point lead and the game.
Sparked by the likes of junior Devin Lattrell and seniors Jaycob Morales, Brendan Hopkinson and Nick Bordeianu, Central held LaSpada to just 14 yards rushing and 104 yards passing in the second half.