Leominster Routs Fitchburg

(Courtesy of Sean Sweeney-Fitchburg Sentinel)
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LEOMINSTER — Aaron Canterbury said it best, all while tears flowed behind his dark sunglasses as the celebration unfolded in the River Street end at sun-drenched historic Crocker Field Thursday morning: “He’s just such a great kid. Such a great kid. I’m going to miss him.”
The “he” the Connecticut native and longtime assistant to Devin Gates referred to was Leominster High’s star quarterback, Osiris Lopez, who while being the same dominating player who is always appreciative to everyone who crosses his path, had something different going for him on Turkey Day—No. 7 on his chest.
The No. 7 was in honor of one of Lopez’s old coaches, Ricky White.
Lopez choked emotion back as he spoke of White, who passed in October 2022, following the Blue Devils’ 59-6 victory over archrival Fitchburg.
“I’m full of emotions right now,” Lopez said following a rather lengthy photo session with anyone who wanted a picture with the soon-to-be Chanticleer. “I’m honestly happy this all happened; I wish it ended (next week) at Gillette, but I’m still happy I went out this way with my guys.
“Ricky was just a big mentor to me, and one of my favorite coaches ever; he was my oath in second or third grade. He would always talk to me before every game, give me motivational speeches before every game. Everything has been dedicated to him.”
According to Gates, Lopez had approached him during a blustery practice session ahead of the early November tilt with Grafton and asked him if he could wear No. 7.
“He had asked if he could do that,” Gates said over the weekend. “Midway through the season, we had 7 as an open jersey, so we decided to give the guys who were close to Ricky and played on Ricky’s teams the option to wear it to honor him.
“Osiris wanted to wear it for him for (Thanksgiving). That was a no brainer for us. Osiris has a tattoo of RW7 on his calf, so he meant a lot to him.”
And not to be outdone, Lopez finished his career with well over 10,000 yards, as well as a phenomenal—and way to bury the lede— 123 touchdown passes, breaking the state record and doing so with an unfathomable six TD passes in the first half Thursday alone.
“Once I hit it, I was getting emotional on the sidelines,” Lopez said. “I just want to thank my O-Line every year, my coaches every year, and my receivers every year for making that happen. I’m happy that I broke the record wearing No. 7. It’s more than a number, at this point. I feel like a new person when I have this number on; this number should be retired. Whoever wears this jersey has to do what Ricky did and uplift his teammates and bring emotion and leave it all out on the field.”
Lopez took advantage of solid field position in the first half to allow him to break the record, thanks to the special teams work of Ryan Ricker, who could have returned several punts back for touchdowns.
He didn’t, though: while Fitchburg’s Cole Lashua can take credit for tackles, Ricker said he purposely slowed down so that Lopez would have a shot.
“Huge shout out to Ryan Ricker: we knew coming in that I had the chance of breaking the record. He didn’t want to score on the punt returns.
“I owe him something for that. I might have to take him out to dinner.”
Ricker, who had 170 yards of punt return yardage against Fitchburg, said he wanted Lopez to get the record.
“I saw the lane and I trusted my blockers,” he said, “but I wanted (Lopez) to get the record. I took it slow.
“He’s incredible. An incredible player, and I wouldn’t want any other quarterback. I’m proud and looking forward to his future.”
The entire city of Leominster is looking forward to that—and White will have the best seat in the house up yonder for when Lopez takes to 21,000-seat Brooks Stadium.
“(White) meant so much to the kids,” Gates said, “and the energy he brought for the game. That’s why our (participation) numbers are so high: he made it fun for the kids, he didn’t compromise on his values, and taught the kids to be accountable to each other. They bring that to our team, and that’s one small way we can honor him.”
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