FILE PHOTO.
Tech’s Steffan Gravely ran for 181 yards and two scores in Friday’s win.
By Mike Alongi
TYNGSBOROUGH — The Lynn Tech football team appears to finally be hitting its stride this season, as the Tigers defeated Greater Lowell, 40-14, at the Gryphons’ home field Friday night.
“It took a little bit of time for us to really hit our stride this year,” said Tech coach James Runner. “I’m really proud of all our guys. We over-prepared for this one because we knew Greater Lowell always plays hard. We came out and executed well tonight.”
It was once again the two-headed running back monster doing the damage for the 3-3 Tigers, with Keoni Gaskins rushing for 147 yards and three touchdowns and Steffan Gravely rushing for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
“Having great running backs like Keoni and Steffan, that makes our offense go,” said Runner. “This is how we wanted our offense to look all season long, and it’s really taking shape now.”
After Greater Lowell (1-5) put together a solid eight-play drive to open the game, the Tigers forced a turnover on downs and took over around midfield. Quarterback David Barrios opened the drive with a keeper for a few yards, then Gaskins blasted through for a 50-yard touchdown run to put Tech on the board.
Gaskins did the very same thing on the next drive, this time taking one for 65 yards to put Tech up by two scores.
The Tech defense was just as potent as the offense, with the Tigers picking off two passes and recovering two fumbles. It was the two running backs, Gravely and Gaskins, who notched the interceptions.
“We knew they brought a lot to the table, but I was confident in our guys,” Runner said of his defense. “(Greater Lowell) has a great scatback quarterback, but I felt like our defensive line would be able to overpower their offensive line and sustain what we needed to get done in this one.
“And I said that the team that wins the turnover battle would be victorious, and I was right.”
Following his interception at the end of the first quarter, Gravely led the way down the field, rushing for 27 yards on the drive and punching in an eight-yard score to go up 19-0. Then, on the extra-point attempt, the Gryphons busted through the line and blocked the kick. Greater Lowell’s Juan Serrano scooped the ball up and took it 90 yards to the house to put the Gryphons on the board with safety to make the score 19-2.
The blocked PAT seemed to give the Gryphons some life. Greater Lowell orchestrated a 10-play, 72-yard drive on the ensuing drive to put the score at 19-8. Serrano capped off the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run.
But Tech didn’t let the momentum slip too far away. On the very next drive, the Tigers grinded out an eight-play drive that took up four minutes and ended with another 7-yard touchdown run for Gravely, giving Tech a 27-8 lead going into the half.
The second half got off to an ugly start, with both teams losing a fumble on their opening drives. After Greater Lowell coughed the ball up on a fourth-and-15, Gaskins scooped it up and almost took it to the end zone, getting tackled deep in Gryphon territory. He finished the job on the next play with a 10-yard touchdown run to make the score 33-8.
Gravely added an impressive 91-yard touchdown run a few minutes later to cap the scoring by Tech, and Greater Lowell quarterback Jake Noel scored a 15-yard touchdown run as time expired.
With the win, the Tigers are 3-1 in the Commonwealth Conference/Small. And with the team clicking on all cylinders, Runner is confident in his team’s ability to get things done in the postseason.
“We’ve taken on some tough teams already this year, and we’re really getting things going,” Runner said. “The teams we lost to were all quality teams, and they made us better. Now we’re just focused on doing us and making it into the playoffs. I think a lot of people in the conference are going to be a little nervous if that happens.”
Tech’s final regular-season game is against Northeast Regional next week in Wakefield.