West Boylston Tops Lee in State Quarter-Finals

WEST BOYLSTON, Mass. -- Dominik Renzoni ran for 160 yards and a pair of touchdowns Friday to lead second-seeded West Boylston to a 35-3 win over Lee in the quarter-finals of the Division 8 State Tournament.

 

The Lions used a 67-yard Renzoni run to set up a touchdown on their opening possession and never looked back in handing the Wildcats (9-1) their first loss of the season.

 

Lee answered West Boylston's opening march with what ended up being its best drive of the night.

 

Taking over at its own 44 after the ensuing kickoff, Lee drove all the way down the field to get a first-and-goal at the Lions' 3.

 

But a 15-yard penalty on first down drove the Wildcats back to the 21, and the drive stalled into a fourth-and-goal at the 10.

 

Luke Gamberoni kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 7-3 in the second minute of the second quarter.

 

But it was all West Boylston after that.

 

"From the emotional and mental standpoint, actually, I thought we were fine," Lee coach Tom Salinetti said. "We just didn't execute. It's just that simple. These guys never doubted each other. They had each other's back the whole way.

 

"And that's all you can hope for, right?"

 

After Gamberoni's three-pointer, West Boylston went 63 yards in nine plays -- all on the ground -- to take a double-digit lead on Tommy Wyatt's touchdown.

 

The teams then traded turnovers before West Boylston was able to drive 70 yards for their third first-half touchdown. The big blow was a 44-yard completion from Connor Rice to Renzoni down the right side to set up first-and-goal at the 10.

 

Following a two-point run by Renzoni, West Boylston went into the break on top, 22-3.

 

Lee had some adjustments to make, but the game was still within reach, and it had some offensive success early and the first possession of the second half.

 

But on the Wildcats' first play from scrimmage, they fumbled the ball back to West Boylston, who took over at the plus-28 and scored two plays later on a 25-yard by Renzoni to make it 29-3.

 

"That's demoralizing," Salinetti said. "But it's nothing you can't overcome. We just weren't able to get it done."

 

Lee answered by taking the ball from its 20 to the plus-29, using a 9-yard completion from Omari Smith to Zach Nicotra to pick up a third-and-6 conversion along the way. But the Lions made a stop on fourth-and-9 to get the ball back with a 26-point lead and 3:57 left in the third quarter, essentially ending Lee's hopes for a comeback.

 

Moments after the defeat, Salinetti's focus was on the run that got Lee within a game of the state's Final Four and the legacy left by the program's seniors.

 

"[The season] means that all this stuff, when you talk about hard work and talk about teamwork and all that stuff -- it means it's not fake," Salinetti said. "It means it's real. And if you stick together, and if you build something that's more than just being teammates, being brothers, then it's going to take you a really long way.

 

"I really believe that this senior class showed these guys the way. I think that this senior class came out here and showed exactly the formula for success. It has nothing to do with Xs and Os. It just has to do with what you want out of the football culture. And that's what these guys did. They cared about each other."