Second-half surge lifts Leominster

FITCHBURG Leominster’s Malia Reyes and Dani Gates are both Sky View Middle School eighth graders, but don’t let their young ages fool you: nay, they are both experienced, hardened, big-game flag football players, having been part of a championship team that went out to Ohio this past summer. Bringing that type of play is expected during Rivalry Week, and Reyes and Gates both had massive games for Leominster High Saturday afternoon as the two connected for a pair of long touchdowns while Reyes threw for another and even picked one pass off, too, as the Blue Devils downed Fitchburg, 19-7, in the second ever Stuffing Bowl exhibition game at historic Crocker Field. Reyes went all out against the Red Raiders, going 24 of 33 for 241 yards. Her pick of Fitchburg QB Bia Pena (25 of 38, 227 yards, TD, 2 INT) late helped slow the hosts, with Jazzy Vasquez also coming up with a late pick to seal the win. “It feels amazing; it’s an honor to be out here with all my sisters,” Reyes said. “It’s honesty a great feeling.” Reyes found Gates for the offensive sealer after FHS had knocked LHS for a one-yard loss. She found Gates eldest daughter to LHS tackle football coach Devin Gates on the right side of three crimson jerseys to haul in what turned into a 46-yard TD catch-and-run that made it 18-7. “That was an amazing catch!” Reyes exclaimed. Flag football fields are 50 yards long, set between the 25s of the traditional gridiron, with teams starting at their own 30. Reyes then found Analeigh Tricoche (7 receptions, 56 yards) for the point-after to round off the scoring. “She’s awesome,” LHS coach Becky Curley said of her rising star signal caller. “She’s been coming up through the program and works hard. She’s also the quarterback on her AYF team, so she’s in season right now. She takes the game seriously, and (Saturday) doesn’t surprise me at all. “I’m excited to see what comes out of her the next five springs.” Fitchburg had a 7-6 lead at the half, thanks to Pena connecting with freshman Maeve Palmer (10 receptions, 97 yards) and sophomore Maiya Tellier (9 receptions, 82 yards) on some big catches on the last series of the first half, including a sweet one-handed grab by Tellier to get into Leominster territory, before Tellier snagged one over the LHS defender in the end zone. Pena found Tellier on the conversion. “She’s electric,” Fitchburg coach Anthony Oquendo said afterward of his quarterback. “That’s a testament of her hard work and always showing up; she was a wide receiver at the start, and she and all the girls played well. “I’m really excited for Maiya and Maeve and seeing what they do in the spring after what they did today.” “They did such a good job,” Curley said of the Pena-to-Tellier connection. Both teams also made stellar flag snatches just shy of the end zone on their critical third down plays on back-to-back, rapid-fire, breathless drives; as soon as you get over midfield, you have three downs to score, or else it’s a punt. Reyes found Tricoche for six yards, with Pena pulling the flag, before Pena connecting with Tellier for 15 saw her flag pulled a yard shy, too. Leominster answered Fitchburg’s score with its first series of the second half, where Reyes made five straight throws to Yagi Perez (5 receptions, 26 yards), Tricoche, and Gates to set up what appeared to be an important defense stop for the Red and Gray. Reyes found Tricoche and FHS pulled the flag at the 26 but Tricoche made a heads up play, got the ball over the 25, and therefore scored the go-ahead TD. The first Reyes-to-Gates TD came on Leominster’s first play from scrimmage, where Gates (5 receptions, 111 yards) ran like a gazelle and found plenty of plastic pasture around her. She corralled it in and walked over the 25 for the score. Reyes called a huge audible to find Gates. “I saw something different in the defense and I decided to call it, and it ended off paying off,” Reyes said. “I just wanted to beat this team and start off with a bang,” Gates said. LHS’ Yaya Martinez also had four receptions for 31 yards, and Cynic Barr came up with two catches for 18 yards.
https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/2025/11/22/second-half-surge-lifts-leominster/

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