CHELMSFORD — Anthony Mauriello finally got to enjoy some home cooking Wednesday night.
The Chelmsford quarterback celebrated senior night in style, rushing for a pair of touchdowns, while throwing for a third, as the Lions (4-4) leveled Lawrence, 33-12.
“It feels good back to .500,” said Mauriello. “It’s a big step up from where we were. I’m just excited to be here.”
Still searching for their first home win of the season, Mauriello gave his crowd something to cheer about rolling in on a pair of touchdown runs in the first half before putting the game away with a 54-yard bomb to open the second half.
“It feels good to actually play here and win here,” said Chelmsford coach George Peterson. “It was a good night for our seniors. We got every senior in our program, which was 22 of them, an opportunity to get on the field. In a situation like this that’s what were looking for, the opportunity to play here under the lights, which is a special place to play in front of the home crowd. The kids have worked hard for us for four years and it was great that every single one of them got a chance tonight.”
Not bad for a Chelmsford squad that endured a bumpy start, losing its first two games and sporting a 1-4 mark after first five. The Lions managed to turn things around dramatically, however, playing much better defensively the last three weeks, surrendering just 24 points over their last three contests.
“We’ve really tightened up defensively,” said Peterson. “Having Nate Duggan back on the back half of our defense really is a huge thing for us at safety. He brings that physicality for us and helps us run support. That’s been big for us over the past few weeks, especially last week and this week.”
Fresh off a 26-6 win over Westford Academy, the Lions continued their impressive late-season push. Mauriello led the charge. The senior quarterback rolled seven yards for the touchdown on their opening drive, grabbing a 6-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest.
The Lions defense put the squeeze on the Lancers’ counterattack. Senior Kyle DeLuca sacked Lawrence quarterback Manny Perez on their second snap, setting an authoritative tone.
Meanwhile, Mauriello continued to fan the offensive flames. The QB found senior Gable Gray on a big 25-yard gainer to the 17. Senior Oliver Ilg picked it up from there, bursting through on a 1-yard strike, increasing the Chelmsford lead to 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Dropping its last six contests, Lawrence responded late in the opening quarter. Perez hung tough, guiding the Lancers’ offense to the 4 in the closing seconds. The QB eventually connected up with a wide-open Denzel Morales on a 6-yard TD pass with 10:44 remaining in the half.
The Lions offense finished the first half off with a flurry. Mauriello led the charge by marching 30 yards up the middle for his second touchdown. Patrick McConnell’s second PAT of the night made it a 20-6 affair.
“I got great blocks all around,” said Mauriello. “I saw a hole and just took it.”
The Lions recovered a Lawrence fumble on the kickoff return, putting them in prime position yet again.
Mauriello aired things out by finding Dylan Quinn on a 24-yard pass to the six. Joseph Nordengren took it from there, bolting six yards into the end one for the 26-6 lead at halftime.
And when Mauriello hooked up with Quinn again on a long 54-yard bomb in the third quarter, Chelmsford kicked open the floodgates. McConnell’s third PAT increased the Chelmsford cushion to 33-6.
“I was just letting it fly and having fun,” said Mauriello.
According to the Peterson, the QB has come into his own in recent weeks.
“He’s gotten better and better as we’ve progressed,” said Peterson. “He’s starting to have a real confidence about him, a control of the offense. He’s been fantastic the past few weeks.”
The Lancers never gave up scoring a late TD run to cut the deficit to 33-12, but that’s as close as they’d get.
Nordengren ended the game with an interception, putting an exclamation point on the victory.
Next up is a date for the playoffs.
“We’re excited,” said Peterson. “The 6-12 (seed) area is really a mish mash of teams that are all really comparable. There are some teams in front of us. We’ll see what happens to them and then it comes down to the math. It looks like there’s a possibility we play Billerica, which would be an interesting first round facing our Thanksgiving Day rival. We’ll see what happens. We’ve done our part. We’ve put ourselves where we are. We’ll see what happens.”
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