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Instant classic: Late field goal lifts Linsly past Fort Frye, 41-38

Photo by Kerry Patrick Fort Frye’s Ethan Duskey (12) drags Linsly defenders during a high school game Friday in Beverly.

BEVERLY — The snap, the hold and the kick. Coach BJ Depew was confident with all three phases as his Linsly special teams lined up for a potential game-winning field goal against Fort Frye Friday on homecoming night at Cadet Stadium.

And even though the attempt from 40 yards was set up on the right hash mark, Depew’s only concern was preventing Fort Frye from getting a push and deflecting the kick.

Unfortunately for Eric Huck and his Fort Frye program, everything fell into place for Linsly as placekicker Santiago Graneros converted the field goal with little resistance at the 1:08 mark of the fourth quarter.

With no timeouts available and less than a minute showing, Fort Frye took over at its own 27 but managed only 7 yards over the next three plays and Linsly pulled out the 41-38 victory.

Fort Frye suffers its first loss and drops to 5-1, while Linsly extended its win streak to three games and improved to 4-1.

“I definitely think our guys were worn down in the second half,” Huck said in reference to the 31 points his ballclub scored by intermission. “In the second half, Linsly was lining up differently and putting more guys up front. It really should not have been an issue because there were other plays that should have been working. We didn’t execute as well as we should have.

“With Linsly, this is as much talent as we will see all season. Playoffs or whatever, this is about as good as it gets. It’s a tough one to swallow, but our guys have to understand they can play with anybody. We clean up a couple of mistakes and the game is ours.”

Even though Linsly received a rude awakening with Owen Brown’s 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game followed by Ethan Duskey’s 10-yard TD run for a 15-0 Fort Frye first-quarter lead, DePew gave praise to his players for sticking with the gameplan.

Linsly’s no-huddle approach resulted in several quick scores. Fort Frye will see Linsly’s No. 7 in their sleep after Luca Dilorenzo caught five short passes resulting in four touchdowns of 12, 66, 21 and 52 yards. Dilorenzo’s yards after catch made his quarterback Atley Cowen’s numbers look phenomenal. For the night, Cowen completed 14 of 27 passes for 297 yards with five TDs and one pick.

“Luca is probably the most dynamic athlete that has played while I have been the coach (in 15 seasons,)” Depew said. “He can make most everything happen offensively. He can play multiple positions. But what really stood out for me tonight was his desire and his drive even when things weren’t looking so good for us.

“He was the guy providing confidence for the rest of our team.”

Linsly trailed 31-24 at halftime.After holding Linsly to a three-and-out on the second half’s opening series, Fort Frye marched 50 yards in eight plays. Austin Powell capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run and gave Fort Frye a 38-24 cushion at the 8:02 mark of the third quarter.

Linsly answered on Cowen’s 21-yard TD completion to Dilorenzo and scored one more TD before the end of the period when Dilorenzo was targeted on a screen pass, eluded several Fort Frye players on the first line of defense and raced 52 yards for the score and a tie game at 38 with 1:42 showing on the clock.

The offensive fireworks was reduced to a hush in the final quarter.

Fort Frye appeared headed for a tie-breaking TD midway in the quarter, On the first play of the drive, Powell gained 48 yards and only because of Dilorenzo’s speed, caught up with Powell to prevent a score. That particular tackle would pay off several plays later as Fort Frye turned the ball over on a fumble at the Linsly 17.

“The whole game, we were locked in,” Dilorenzo said. “We all wanted to make plays, especially on the defense because Fort Frye has a great offense. It was a struggle.”

Pass-heavy for 3 1/2 quarters, Linsly relied on the run and made it way downfield to the Fort Frye 23 while chewing nearly 4 1/2 minutes off the clock, and setting up Graneros’ 40-yard field goal.

Fort Frye’s ground game gained 352 yards, including 111 from Brown and 108 from Powell.

“This win is enormous for our program,” DePew said. “We understand the tradition of Fort Frye football, especially the success they have had here at home. We knew we were walking into a dogfight and that’s exactly what we got. And we were fortunate to come out with a win.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

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