Tewksbury's Ground Game Does It Again [video]

A week ago, it was a shocking upset.

Maybe now, it's time for the rest of the Merrimack Valley Conference to take the seriously.

For the second straight week, invited one of the MVC's super powers to visit Doucette Field on Saturday. And for the second straight week, they sent their guests home with their tails between their legs.

This week's victim was Central Catholic High School, which brought a stingy defense and a 2-1 record to town, only to watch the Redmen roll up 237 yards rushing on their way to a convincing, 21-6 beat down of the Raiders.

Senior quarterback Kevin Saunders had one of the best games of his career for Tewksbury, completing 6-of-10 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown, rushing 10 times for 63 yards and intercepting a pass and recovering a fumble on defense as the Redmen improved their record to 2-2 overall, 2-1 in the MVC.

Saunders was not the only star of the day for TMHS, as senior running back by carrying the ball 18 times for 114 yards and a touchdown against Central. And senior running back Dan Altavesta added 47 rushing yards and a score as Tewksbury simply had too many weapons for Central to stop.

"We've got a very diverse backfield," Saunders said afterward. "We can do it all. And our line, they're not very big, but they're mobile. We give people a lot of different looks and they don't always know what's coming."

After staking Central to an unearned 6-0 first quarter lead by fumbling the ball away deep in their own territory, the Redmen got down to business and dominated every facet of the game, especially when they were on defense.

A week ago, On Saturday, McDermott and Brancato carried 21 times for just 42 yards between them, as Tewksbury held the Raiders to just 45 yards rushing on the day.

In what was their most dominating defensive performance of the year, the Redmen limited Central to just five first downs in the game, forcing the Raiders to go three-and-out on seven of their 10 possessions.

Tewksbury forced three Central turnovers, with Saunders and senior defensive back Scott Thurlow picking off passes and Saunders grabbing a fumble recovery.

Senior linebacker Derek Tarpey had his arms wrapped around McDermott and Brancato all afternoon, while senior defensive back Brad Gahagan made several punishing tackles. Defensive linemen Ryan Eatherton, Christian Taylor and Mike Davidian also made multiple tackles.

"The defense just speaks for themselves," Saunders said. "They played a great game today."

"We worked real hard and studied their tendencies this week," he said. "If you saw their quarterback play last week (against Dracut), you'd have thought he was going to BYU or Utah State or someplace where they run those fancy offensive sets. He was like a magician last week.

"But we worked real hard this week and studied their tendencies," Aylward added. "Our guys had to put in some extra hours, but it ended up being worth it."

After a sluggish first quarter Tewksbury found its offensive rhythm in the second quarter after Saunders linked up with McLaughlin on a 43-yard flea flicker pass play that moved the ball from the Tewksbury 31 to the Central 26. Four plays later, Saunders found McLaughlin in the end zone with a 22-yard touchdown pass. Matt Blaisdelll's conversion kick gave Tewksbury a 7-6 lead, and the Redmen never trailed after that.

Bettano scored Tewksbury's second touchdown late in the third quarter on a two-yard run, and Altavesta sealed the deal midway through the fourth quarter on a 34-yard scamper around the right end with just under five minutes to play. Blaisdell's third consecutive extra point kick made it 21-6.

The scene on the field after the game's final whistle was a jubilant one, as the Redmen realized they had engineered an unthinkable offensive turnaround after being shut out in the first week of the season and starting the season 0-2.

"I don't know what it is, but we're just clicking," Saunders said. "All of a sudden everyone is on the same page. We're just putting the pieces of the puzzle together and it's just clicking."

"We are where we are because we were where we were," Aylward added. "We learned a lot in those first two weeks. It was a tough way to start the season but our coaches stayed positive and our team leaders stayed positive and we learned from the things we didn't do."

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