Jiminez' Running, Lee's Defense Stops Drury
LEE, Mass. -- The Lee football team Friday took advantage of a big break with its offense and never came close to breaking with its defense.
J.J. Jiminez ran for three scores, and the Wildcats posted their second shutout in the first three weeks of the season, a 44-0 win over Drury.
Lee (3-0) has allowed its opponents just seven points going into next Friday's showdown at Mount Greylock (2-1).
"We always want to be agressive on defense," Lee coach Keith Thomson said. "We want to dictate to the offense. We don't want them to dictate to us.
"I thought we did that from the start. We got good pressure on the quarterback, got him running early. It's hard to throw with pressure.
"Give a lot of credit to our linebackers, our front seven. They did a good job."
Lee made a stop on Drury's first possession deep in the Blue Devils' end, and a mishandled snap in the backfield on the ensuing punt produced a Wildcat first-and-goal at the 1 for its first play of the game.
Senior QB Homer Winston scored on first down, and Will Consolati connected for the extra point to make it 7-0 just more than two minutes into the game.
A 2-yard tackle for a loss by Garrett Hopkins helped stop the Blue Devils without a first down on their next possession, and after a short punt, Winston set up on the plus-28. Lee ended up punting and pinning Drury at its 2, and Matt Driscoll recorded a safety to make it 9-0.
Lee took the free kick and went 45 yards, all on the ground, with Andrew Ruef capping it off with a 3-yard run and a 16-0 lead.
"We've had a tough time getting our rhythm on offense," Thomson said. "Obviously, when you get a first drive at the 1-yard-line, that helps jump start you there.
"Tough break for Drury, but we put it in, and guys fed off the energy. We executed pretty well tonight."
Lee cashed in on good field position three more times in the second quarter.
A 41-yard drive after a fourth-down stop ended in a 2-yard Jiminez run. A Taggert Roosa interception deep in Drury territory set up Lee's second one-play scoring drive, a 6-yard Jiminez run.
And just before half-time, Winston hit Cole Redstone over the middle for a 50-yard scoring strike that capped a 54-yard drive and made it 36-0.
Lee scored on its first possession of the second half when Jiminez reached paydirt from the 11 with 2:04 left in the third.
Lee's other second-half possession belonged to second-string QB sophomore Jimmy Purcell, who took the team from its 42 to the Drury 4 before Thomson elected to run out the clock by taking a knee on four straight snaps.
Drury (1-2) will look to get back on the right side of the ledger next Saturday at home against Amherst.