Knights ground out win

LYNN — It wasn’t pretty, and it was never easy, but Northeast Regional showed how hard-nosed football is played yesterday, holding off Commonwealth Athletic Conference rival Lynn Tech in a 34-32 victory at Manning Field.

“It is always a tough, physical game against Lynn Tech,” said Northeast coach Don Heres. “We’re not flashy, we don’t have the best athletes in the world, but we do what we do. These kids play so hard all the time and I’m so proud of them today.”

The Knights (3-1) did damage on the ground, as senior backs Zach Sanderson and Connor Joseph combined for 275 yards and four touchdowns on 38 total carries.

Said Heres: “Our linemen never give up, that lets Sanderson really carry the load like he did last year, we use him in a lot of ways … and the big guy Joseph is really tough to bring down.”

The Tigers (3-1) looked to senior quarterback David Barrios, who threw for 303 yards and five touchdowns to three different receivers, to keep them in the game.

Down 34-26 and facing fourthand-7 from his own 48, Barrios threw a 52-yard strike to Edward Cuevas (two catches, 113 yards) for his second touchdown of the game, making it 34-32 pending a twopoint try with just 1:57 remaining.

The Northeast defense stood tall at the goal line, not allowing Barrios to punch it home on a QB keep to hold onto its two-point lead.

The Knights were then able to run out the clock, and head home with a victory.

Leading 28-20 in the third, Northeast capped off a four-minute, eight-play drive with a 12-yard touchdown run by Sanderson, his second score of the day, before Lynn Tech closed the gap in the final quarter as Barrios found Elvin Gonzalez (three catches, 74 yards) for his second TD reception with 8:40 remaining to make it 34-26.

Northeast’s offense did most of its damage in the first half, with Joseph (16 carries, 78 yards) punching in its first two scores in the opening quarter, before Sanderson (19 carries, 197 yards) broke off an 88-yard touchdown run to go up 22-8.