Bartlett battered by Northbridge 42-7

Sophomore A.J. Caddell makes a nice tackle

By Steev Riccardo

NORTHBRIDGE – The Bartlett Indians will need to go back to the drawing board this week following a 42-7 trouncing at the hands of the Central Mass powerhouse Northbridge Rams and their star quarterback Matt Phelan (4 touchdowns) last Friday night in Northbridge.

The Rams established themselves early scoring on the second play of the game from scrimmage on a nifty double reverse and a 39-yard TD toss from Phelan to Ben O’Donnell that fooled the Indians badly and gave them a lead that would never relinquish.

On their first possession, Indians junior quarterback Ricky Spooner picked up some nice yardage on a bootleg but a clipping call nullified the run and despite a couple of nice gains of ten and five yards by Alex Givens-Perry, they still couldn’t get a first down.  

The Rams proceeded to score on their next two possessions and the Indians faced a 21-0 deficit with three minutes left in the first quarter.

The Indians third possession of the game was a disaster and a botched snap on an attempted punt gave the Rams the ball at the Indians one-yard line. The Rams barreled in on the first play and the Indians found themselves down 28-0 with eight minutes still left in the opening half.

At this point of the game both the Indians and their fans were stunned as the hometown Rams were in the middle of a mad celebration and things were looking awfully bleak for the visitors.

Bartlett senior Billy Phillips gave his team a decent field position with a 25-yard kickoff return, but the Indians offense stalled again.

The Rams needed just three plays to score again and take a commanding 35-0 lead with 2:37 still left in the half.

The Indians finally were able to get something going on their next possession. Sophomore James Patterson put his team in good field possession with a nice kickoff return and the Indians offense went to work.

Patterson and Harry Le started the drive with a couple of strong runs and  then Spooner connected with senior co-captain Akeem Belnavis on a 28-yard pass play giving the Indians a first down on the Rams 18-yard line.

Givens-Perry then exploded through the Rams defense for an 18- yard touchdown run and the Indians were finally on the board, Chris Czernicki kicked the extra point making it 35-7 going into the half.

The Indians had a chance to get on the board on their first possession of the second half putting together an impressive eight-minute 72-yard drive.  They were, however, stopped on four consecutive plays inside the Rams 10-yard line and this one was history.

There were a few bright spots for the Indians. Phillips played an excellent two way game and Spooner and Neil Flanigan connected on a pair of nice pass plays. Givens-Perry also had some decent runs, including the 18-yard touchdown.

The Indians will look to regroup and get in the winning column when they face the 0-1 Quaboag Cougars next week in Warren.   

Read more about the Bartlett Indians and high school football in the View From The Sidelines column published every week in the Patriot and contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with feedback and comments.