D'Auria Takes Charge, Lions Hold Off Dracut, 35-27

The football gods set a trap for the Chelmsford High football team Saturday evening, but Jeff D'Auria and the CHS Lions refused to get caught in the snare.

D'Auria, a junior running back who had only seen spot duty over the past two weeks (10 carries for 71 yards in the last two games combined) exploded for a career-high 295 yards and four touchdowns, helping Chelmsford hold off upset-minded Dracut High, 35-27, at Simonian Alumni Stadium.

D'Auria's remarkable night allowed the Lions to overcome the loss of starting quarterback Bobby Sullivan, who broke his left wrist in the game's second quarter, and improve their record to 4-0 overall, 2-0 in the Merrimack Valley Conference.

"Jeff had a great game," said Chelmsford coach Bruce Rich. "He's just so explosive. He hits the hole as hard as anybody we've ever had. He cuts back, he just sees the field, and he's got breakaway speed. He's got all the tools. He even gets the hard yards, too."

D'Auria has now scored 10 touchdowns in just four games this season, having reached the end zone four times in Chelmsford's opening night, 40-26 win over Westford, and having scored at least one touchdown in all four of the Lions' games.

But for the two weeks prior to Saturday's game, D'Auria had taken a back seat to both senior running back Connor Brimley (24 carries for 136 yards in the last two games) and Sullivan, who had led the team's offensive attack by throwing three touchdown passes in back-to-back games against Acton-Boxboro and Lawrence. But in the span of no more than two minutes Saturday evening, Sullivan broke his wrist when he got hit hard while releasing a screen pass, and Brimley retired to the bench with a recurrence of a nagging injury he has battled since pre-season, setting the stage for D'Auria's heroics.

"I was supposed to play mostly defense tonight because one of our cornerbacks was out, but Connor wasn't feeling too well so they gave the ball to me," explaind D'Auria. "Then when Bobby went down, we all knew we had to step it up."

D'Auria's stellar efforts over-shadowed the impressive play of Dracut's sophomore quarterback Tyler Bassett, who ran for three touchdowns and threw for another. Bassett accounted for an eye-popping 404 yards of total offense, completing 15-of-39 passes for 259 yards and rushing 20 times for 145 yards for the Middies.

"Their quarterback was outstanding," Rich said. "He saw the field really well. He had a great game. He's just so slippery, I wanted to check his shirt for grease."

Bassett got Dracut out to a 6-0 first quarter lead when he hit tight end Jeff Breen with a 35-yard touchdown pass. D'Auria gave Chelmsford a 7-6 halftime lead on a 14-yard scoring run (Charles Calenda PAT kick) in the second quarter.

After back-up quarterback John Campsmith put Chelmsford on top, 14-6, on a 14-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, the remainder  of the second half resembled a toe-to-toe heavyweight slugfest between D'Auria and Bassett. First Bassett scored on a 22-yard run, only to have D'Auria answer immediately with a 40-yard TD scamper, giving Chelmsford a 21-12 lead at the end of three quarters.

The fourth quarter was more of the same, with Bassett scoring on a four-yard run, and D'Auria answering with a 13-yard score. Dracut drew even with just 2:40 to play in the game, when Bassett ran one in from 13 yards out, setting the stage for a major MVC upset. But D'Auria provided Chelmsford with the eventual margin of victory when he ripped off his best run of the night just 19 seconds later, scampering 94 yards for his fourth touchdown of the game.

D'Auria has now carried the ball 43 times for 482 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. He is averaging an amazing 11.2 yards per carry.

D'Auria was quick to share the credit for his success with his offensive line.

 "I've been getting great blocking, unbelievable blocking," he said. "The holes were wide open tonight."

Rich agreed. "That was our best effort by our offensive line so far this year, no doubt about it," the coach said. "It all starts with our blocking up front, and the kids made some good holes for (D'Auria) tonight."

Chelmsford rushed the ball for an astounding 412 yards on the night, but it still took some last minute defensive heroics to hold off the Middies. Defensive linemen Devin Lekan and Connor McCarthy, linebacker Mark Sousa and defensive backs Matthew Sweeney and Todd Dowrey made the big plays on Dracut's final two possessions of the games, and the Lions held on to win.

On a weekend when previously unbeaten MVC power Lowelll got blind-sided by Tewksbury and unbeaten Andover struggled with Xaverian (winning by two), Rich and the Lions were happy to escape unscathed, particularly in light of the loss of their starting quarterback.

"You have to respect every team in this league, that's number one," Rich said. "Anybody can rise up and bite you. We've got a lot of respect for those (Dracut) coaches and that program. They're going to be very good."

The Lions will put their unblemished record on the line on Friday night at Haverhill in an MVC cross-over game.