Early flurry carries Boxers
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Following Brockton's surprising triumph over St. John's Prep last week, many were calling it a possible season-changing victory. Others labeled it a fluke.
After last night, the doubters may want to reconsider their views.
The Boxers scored the first 28 points against previously unbeaten Fitchburg en route to a 34-14 nonleague victory at recently dedicated Armond Colombo Field at Rocky Marciano Stadium.
Senior running back Khalil James-Offley rushed for 119 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. Brockton (3-3) finished with 330 yards of offense. The Red Raiders had 205.
Fitchburg (4-1) had trouble shutting down the Boxers' running attack. Offley's scores came on runs of 9, 3, and 10 yards, respectively. Sam Previte threw a 12-year touchdown pass to Sam Victoria and Jamal Johnson scored on a 55-yard carry.
Greg Mendez led Fitchburg with 124 yards on 21 carries.
"For us it's two in a row now," said Brockton coach Peter Colombo. "Last week was a huge win for us and we're just looking to get better every week. This team needed to have their backs against the wall and we challenged them. They've responded very well these last two weeks."
Division 1
Nonleague: Malden 35, Watertown 17 - David Freni ran for three touchdowns for visiting Malden.
Division 1A
Merrimack Valley: Andover 12, Tewksbury 7 - John Hennessey threw a touchdown pass and ran for a TD in the third quarter to secure an Andover win.
Billerica 49, Haverhill 19 - Nick LaSpada scored three touchdowns and threw three TD passes.
Lowell 14, Central Catholic 7 - Ambruce Carter and Paul Feeley scored Lowell's touchdowns in the first quarter.
Methuen 34, Chelmsford 7 - The mighty Bartlett brothers helped bring down the defending Division 1A Super Bowl champ. Mike Bartlett scored four touchdowns, and Matt Bartlett threw two TD passes.
Nonleague: Bedford 34, Boston Latin 7 - Tim McDonald scored three touchdowns to power Bedford (5-0) over Boston Latin (0-5).
Lincoln-Sudbury 21, Concord-Carlisle 6 - Steven Hodgetts scored two first-quarter touchdowns.
Division 2
Hockomock: King Philip 28, Canton 7 - Brandon Howard completed 5 of 12 passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns as the visiting Warriors (5-0) remained undefeated. Canton took a 7-0 lead after one quarter before King Philip scored 28 unanswered points.
Middlesex: Reading 41, Burlington 21 - Stanley Andre scored three TDs for the Rockets.
Belmont 28, Lexington 13 - Michael Sumrell scored three touchdowns and intercepted two passes for Belmont (2-3).
Division 2A
Patriot: Rockland 42, Randolph 0 - Adam Straughn scored twice for the Bulldogs.
Division 3
South Shore: Abington 20, East Bridgewater 0 - Kristian LaPointe scored two touchdowns for the Green Wave (6-0).
Tri-Valley: Dover-Sherborn 27, Bellingham 7 - Andrew Perlmutter ran for 188 yards and passed for 92 as D-S improved to 3-2.
Division 3A
Boston North: East Boston 48, West Roxbury 12 - Mike Lockley and Matt Wyatt combined for more than 450 all-purpose yards and each scored three touchdowns for East Boston (3-2).
Nonleague: South Shore Tech 36, Charlestown 0 - Frank Mogavero ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns for South Shore (4-1).
South Boston 24, Old Rochester 16 - Brian King scored in the second and third quarters for South Boston (4-1).
Winthrop 32, Salem 12 - Chris Beranger scored three touchdowns in the second quarter as Winthrop pulled away.
Division 4
Catholic Central Small: Marian 7, Matignon 0 - Miguel Ortiz scored on an 83-yard punt return.
Boston South: Burke 6, Latin Academy 2 - Denzell Rowell scored on a 6-yard run in the second quarter run and the Bulldogs' defense did the rest.
NEPSAC
ISL: Middlesex 41, Groton 20 - Nick Clark threw two touchdown passes and the host Zebras (1-3) scored 21 first-quarter points.
WMass
Longmeadow 80, Minnechaug 55 - Alex Scyocurka scored five touchdowns for Longmeadow including an 85-yard kickoff on the first play of the game. The win was Longmeadow's 42d in a row.
Globe correspondent Emily Wright contributed to this report.
