Crusaders Cage Tigers, Beat Littleton 47-13 in Mid-Wach Inter-divisional Game

Groton-Dunstable and Littleton came into this meeting with identical 6-1 records and you had to expect a more even contest. But the Tigers who play in Mid-Wach D were without starting quarterback Alex McLaughlin, a decided disadvantage and were humbled by the Crusaders, 47-13 in a Mid-Wach inter-divisional Friday night game.

Senior fullback Matt Manning and junior quarterback Mack Eberhardt combined for 230 yards on the ground, Manning with130 yards on 11 carries while Eberhardt called his own number 13 times for 103 yards.

No crazy dances, spiking the ball or choreographed endzone antics for this pair. Just tough, hard-nosed, hard-running football players.

Junior backup quarterback Matt Jackson gave Littleton an early 7-0 lead with a five yard touchdown pass to classmate Travis Bassett. But like the Pats this past Sunday who spotted St. Louis an early TD before getting 45 unanswered points, GD answered emphatically, scoring five of their seven touchdowns in the first half and taking a 34-7 lead at the break.

Eberhardt got the Crusaders on the board with a 17 yard TD run in the first quarter (Corey Romich, PAT). Minutes later, Manning was off to the land of six with a 69 yard jaunt (Romich, PAT) to give GD a 14-7 lead. In the second quarter, the senior fullback added TD runs of seven and 26 yards respectively with both extra points good by Romich.

Junior Quinton Forbes scored on a one-yard plunge in the fourth stanza to push the Crusader lead to 41-7.

Littleton's Travis Bassett halted GD's 41 point unanswered streak with his second touchdown of the game. For Bassett, it was his 15th touchdown of the season.

Groton-Dunstable's Parker Blodgett closed out the scoring picking up a Littleton fumble and running 38 yards for a touchdown. The Crusader defense was led by linebackers Matt Manning, Joey Orlando and tackle Ben Lutkevich. The Crusaders host Gardner on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.