The Boston Globe - 05.19.2019

OCTOBER 5, 2019 7

High schools

BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF

Led by Terrance Cherry, Natick denies Wellesley QB Matt Maiona (bottom) on a conversion to seal the victory.

By Brendan Hall

GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

Natick 14

Wellesley 13

NATICK — Terrance
Cherry did his home-
work.
As he watched talented Wellesley
quarterback Matt Maiona on a crucial
2-point attempt with a minute left, the
Natick linebacker noticed the play was
developing similarly to what he saw
the Raiders run to victory a week ago,
when Maiona called his own number
up the middle to beat Newton North
in overtime.
Cherry stuck to his assignment —
follow the guard — and met Maiona at
the line of scrimmage for the game-
saving tackle with 1:06 left, sending
the crowd into a frenzy and preserving
a hard-fought, 14-13 win that allowed

the No. 6 Redhawks to improve to 5-0.

“I saw the guard pull and I just at-

tacked at that point. I shot the hole be-

fore the guard could even get there,”

Cherry said. “And then I ran over to

our sideline, looked at the crowd and

pointed to the ground and said, ‘This

is what I do.’ I was so happy we

stopped them.”

Asked about the bold decision to go

for it, Wellesley coach Jesse Davis said

it was a matter of confidence.

“We’re playing tough here on the

road,” said Davis after his squad

dropped to 4-1.

“They’re an excellent football

team, I thought we had some momen-

tum, and I trusted my players.”

Based on the way the game went to

that point, it’s understandable.

Natick’s brutish defensive line, led

by 345-pound, UMass-bound tackle

Josh Atwood, lived up to the hype, reg-

istering a pair of sacks and a forced

fumble. But the Raiders were able to

move the ball behind an array of coun-

ter and sweep reads, led by Maiona

(14 of 26, 132 yards, TD), plus run-

ning backs Jon Marvan and Chris

Althoff.

Then, down 14-0, the Raiders took

to the air. First, Maiona found Antho-

ny Perez wide open, breaking for the

post for a 14-yard score with 6:34 to

go. Then, the No. 20 Raiders used

some trickeration to close it to 14-13,

backup quarterback Sam Gear taking

a jet sweep handoff and finding Perez

at the back pylon for a 26-yard score.

Maiona was then stuffed on the 2-

point try, met by a swarm led by Cher-

ry.

Quarterback Will Lederman (151

total yards) was formidable on the

ground for Natick, as was running

back Jalyn Aponte (18 carries, 76

yards), who accounted for both Red-

hawk touchdowns.

Natickmakesalatestand

Cherry’s conversion

stuff halts Wellesley

By Dan Shulman

GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

When Canton and Foxborough

meet on the football field, there’s usu-

ally late drama. When Canton fum-

bled the ball twice in the fourth quar-

ter Friday to give the visiting Warriors

a chance to pull ahead, it made for an

anxious final two minutes.

But as it has done all season, the

Canton defense held serve, stalling

two Foxborough drives and forcing an

interception to hold on for a 26-20

win, giving the Bulldogs a leg up to-

ward an outright Hockomock Daven-

port title.

“We kept them at bay,” said Canton

coach Dave Bohane. “It was stressful,

that’s a Foxborough-Canton game.

They played well but our kids stayed

poised and made key plays.”

The Bulldogs (4-0) struggled to

stay disciplined in the early stages,

taking four first-half personal foul

penalties.

A Canton bench penalty on the

Warriors’ third-to-last drive gave Fox-

borough (2-2) a first down on the Bull-

dogs’ 12-yard line. Canton forced

three incomplete passes and bottled

up Warrior quarterback Shayne Kerri-

gan to end the drive.

After the second fumble, Foxbor-

ough got the ball back on the Canton

27, but an interception by senior line-

backer Owen Lehane again thwarted

the Warriors. He would add a QB hur-

ry on Foxborough’s final play that

forced a hasty incomplete pass.

“He never lets us down,” said Bo-

hane. “He’s a solid all-around kid and

it’s nice to have him. He hit the key

field goals and stepped in to have an

interception.”

Lehane had a solid night on de-

fense, recording a sack along with his

interception. He was also a major fac-

tor in the kicking game, nailing two

field goals.

North Reading 21, Masconomet 14—

With 2:48 left, junior quarterback Bri-

an Heffernan hit Jack Keller with a

44-yard touchdown pass, Heffernan’s

second of the night and 12th of the

season, to lead the undefeated Hor-

nets (5-0, 2-0 Cape Ann Kinney).

Rockland 42, Middleborough 13—

Quarterback Dante Vasquez ran for

170 rushing yards and two touch-

downs on 17 carries to help the Bull-

dogs extend their state-best winning

streak to 11 games. Three players had

rushing touchdowns as Rockland

piled up 334 yards on the ground vs.

the Sachems (2-2). Tom McSweeney

rumbled for 41 yards and three TDs

on eight carries, and Zachary Ofurum

added 97 and a score.

Duxbury 45, Silver Lake 7— A week

after powering the Dragons to a state-

ment win over Hingham, Will Prouty

scored six touchdowns in Kingston.

The senior quarterback finished 12-

of-14 passing for 166 yards and three

touchdowns, and added 12 carries for

172 yards and three scores on the

ground for No. 9 Duxbury (3-2).

Old Rochester 28, Dighton-Rehoboth

27 — Ryon Thomas connected with

Camden Brezinski for two scores, in-

cluding the go-ahead 3-yard toss with

1:49 left for the Bulldogs (3-1). The

Falcons (0-4) cut the deficit to one

point with 16 seconds left, when John

Marcille found Vinny Ruffini for a 3-

yard touchdown pass, but ORR

stuffed the 2-point rush attempt for

the victory.

Norwell 22, East Bridgewater 20—

Brian Garrity converted a 2-yard rush

in overtime and Ethan Coggins con-

nected with Garrett McGlinchey on

the 2-point conversion to lead the

Clippers (2-2) to the victory.

O’Bryant 16, East Boston 8—Jadon

Smith’s 20-yard scoop-and-score and

Kerlens Jeanty’s subsequent 2-point

rush broke a third-quarter tie to help

the Tigers (3-1) down the Jets (1-3).

Jeanty also scored O’Bryant’s other

touchdown in the second.

Austin Prep 22, Lowell Catholic 0—

Mike Gizzi rushed for touchdowns of

28 and 12 yards for the Cougars (2-3).

Salvatore LoCoco made all four of his

kicks, including field goals of 31 and

26 yards.

Boston English 38, Charlestown 0—

The Eagles (2-3) cruised to the win be-

hind Keesean Kerr, who carried the

ball 12 times for 114 yards and two

touchdowns. Quarterback Jakhi

Smith both threw and rushed for 111

yards, adding a 2-yard scoring run.

Cathedral 30, Atlantis Charter 0—

Omarion Braggs had eight carries for

180 yards, and touchdowns of 60, 40,

and 45 yards for the Panthers (1-3).

Dartmouth 12, Durfee 7— Dylan

Pacheco rushed for a 1-yard touch-

down in the first quarter, and Nolan

Ellis threw a 61-yarder to Eric Viera in

the fourth to lead the Indians (1-3).

Dedham 30, Bellingham 12— In his

first start at quarterback, sophomore

Dylan Donohue was 11-of-19 passing

for 222 yards with a touchdown for

the Marauders (1-3). Matt DeVirgilio

rushed for 158 yards on 15 carries and

two touchdowns.

Dexter Southfield 37, St. Luke’s 20—

The hosts exploded for 522 yards with

Howard commit Jaden Vaughn-Saw-

yer leading the way with 24 carries for

209 yards and two touchdowns.

Everett 42, Medford 0— Duke Do-

herty tossed three touchdowns and

ran for another, guiding the fifth-

ranked Crimson Tide (4-1).

Lincoln-Sudbury 21, Acton-Boxbor-

ough 0— Sophomore Riley O’Connell

was 9-of-15 passing for 140 yards and

two touchdowns for the Warriors

(3-1). Gordon Gozdeck added seven

tackles and two sacks.

Milton 12, Weymouth 0— In a score-

less game entering the fourth, the

penalty-prone Wildcats (4-0, 3-0 BSC)

overcame in the fourth. Luke Botsford

hauled in a 14-yard touchdown pass

from Chase Vaughan, and Alex Perez

had a 3-yard touchdown run with

1:45 remaining in the Bay State Con-

ference road game.

St. John’s Prep 42, Westford 9—Pat

Nistl scored three touchdowns and

Nick Masterson had a pair of short

scoring runs from inside the 5 as the

second-ranked Eagles (5-0) soared to

the nonleague victory in Westford.

Tech Boston 38, South Boston/Burke

14 — Julius Gillard tossed three

touchdown passes and rushed for an-

other in the win for the Bears (3-2).

ROUNDUP

Cantondefensefinishes

thejobvs.Foxborough

By Nate Weitzer

GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

CM 42

Xaverian 10

WESTWOOD — In a

Catholic Conference

tilt that seemed ini-

tially to be stuck in the mud, Catholic

Memorial broke loose with 42 unan-

swered points in a runaway 42-10 vic-

tory at rival Xaverian.

“You have to play four quarters,”

said CM coach John DiBiaso. “We

knew that beforehand, but we didn’t

play a good first quarter. Thank God

we were able to come back and grab

the lead. Because [Xaverian’s] game is

grinding it out and killing the clock.”

The 12th-ranked Hawks (1-3)

jumped out to a 10-0 lead by capitaliz-

ing on great field position. Junior

quarterback Michael Berluti connect-

ed on a 43-yard field goal late in the

first quarter and finished a 26-yard

scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown

run in the opening minute of the sec-

ond quarter.

But the defense of the top-ranked

Knights (5-0) limited Xaverian to just

54 total yards of offense in the first

half, allowing their balanced offense to

work through some early miscues.

CM junior tailback Shiloh White

provided the breakthrough with a 15-

yard touchdown run, then added a 37-

yard run down the sideline to set up an

8-yard score from Darius LeClair (11

carries, 37 yards, 3 touchdowns).

“[The Hawks] were stacking up in

the middle, and [White] got to the out-

side and made a big difference,” said

DiBiaso. “Our offense started operat-

ing better and running that offense —

it’s the same type of offense I ran at Ev-

erett — you have to keep the lead.”

Catholic Memorial had no issues

building on its 14-10 halftime lead, as

senior quarterback Barrett Pratt (4-for-

11 passing, 170 yards)connectedwith

Zach Mitchell (4 receptions, 130 yards)

for an 83-yard pass to set up another

LeClair score in the opening minutes

of the third quarter.

On the Knights’ next drive, White

(11 carries, 145 yards, 2 touchdowns)

got loose down the sideline for a 58-

yard gain, setting up LeClair’s third

touchdown of the night. White added

a 14-yard score of his own and Owen

McGowan (5 carries, 96 yards, touch-

down) provided the finishing touches

with a 32-yard touchdown run.

Pratt appeared to twist his knee on

the final play of the third quarter and

did not return, but DiBiaso said that

his starting quarterback did not tear

any ligaments.

Nate Weitzer can be reached at

[email protected].

CMscores42straight

inroutof Xaverian

By Karl Capen

GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

Marblehead 21

Beverly 13

MARBLEHEAD
—Marblehead
coach Jim Rudloff
saw his team’s Northeastern Confer-
ence matchup against Beverly as a
humbling experience.
After blowout wins in back-to-back
weeks, the No. 8 Magicians (4-0) were
faced with a battle, needing to find
whatever way they could to pull them-
selves in front on Friday night. That
answer came in the form of senior run-
ning back Tim Cronin, whose two
fourth-quarter touchdowns were just
what Marblehead needed in a 21-13
victory.

“We [needed this close game] and

the timing couldn’t have been [more]

perfect too,” said Rudloff. “For us, it is

staying within ourselves.”

Following touchdowns by both

teams in the first quarter, the score

was deadlocked until the beginning of

the fourth. Cronin hurdled one de-

fender, then forced his way across the

goal line on a 12-yard run to put the

Magicians in front, 14-7.

The Marblehead defense forced a

three-and-out, and on the first play of

the ensuing drive, Cronin took it 70

yards for a 21-7 lead with 9:34 left.

“There was a big change from half-

time in momentum and figuring out

what we were doing wrong,” said

Cronin, who ended the night with 174

yards rushing.

“We definitely didn’t fix everything

that we wanted to, but we fixed

enough.”

Beverly (2-2) drove 71 yards to an-

swer with a 3-yard touchdown by se-

nior Duncan Moreland with just over

four minutes to play, but the extra

point was blocked. A defensive stand

got Beverly the ball back at the Marble-

head 46 with 2:06 remaining, but care-

less penalties pushed the team back.

A turnover on downs allowed the

Magicians run out the clock.

Karl Capen can be reached at

[email protected].

By Jake Levin

GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

Mansfield 15

King Philip 13

WRENTHAM —
Scoring just four
plays into Friday
night’s game, Mansfield’s offense
looked as if it wouldn’t be tamed.
The Hornets were taking on King
Philip, however. The decades-old ri-
vals have engaged in close contests of
late, with each of the last three meet-
ings decided by 3 points or less. The
matchup at Macktaz Field kept with
the recent trend, with fourth-ranked
Mansfield getting its mojo back just
in time to hold off the seventh-ranked
Warriors, 15-13.
“It’s Mansfield-KP, it’s got to go to
the wire,” Mansfield coach Mike Red-
ding said. “Both teams are going to
find a way to get points, but it’s al-
ways great defensively. It’s business
as usual between these two.”
Danny Rapoza was on the receiv-
ing end of a 33-yard touchdown pass
from Jack Moussette, which gave the
Hornets (3-1, 2-0) the lead for good
with 9:38 to go in the first quarter.
The offense ground to a halt soon af-
ter, with Mansfield punting on its
next two possessions, running out of
time in the first half, and turning the
ball over on downs on each of its first
two series of the second half.
In the meantime, King Philip (3-1,
1-1) was in the midst of remaking its
offense on the fly after tailback Ryan
Halliday exited in the second quarter
with a thumb injury.
It took some time, but quarter-
back Robbie Jarest got in a groove,
completing five passes for 83 yards
on a 14-play, 80-yard drive which got
the Warriors on the scoreboard with

6:32 left in the third quarter.

After Crawford Cantave plunged

in from the 1, however, Mansfield’s

Nick Marciano blocked the PAT to

keep the Hornets ahead.

The play loomed large when

Cincere Gill scampered into the end

zone from 20 yards out with 7:18 left

in the fourth and Mansfield made it a

two-score game with a successful 2-

point conversion.

Redding said he deliberated going

for 2, but after a Warriors penalty

moved Mansfield to the 1-yard line, it

became a no-brainer.

Marciano validated his decision by

leaping over the line, giving the Hor-

nets a 15-6 lead.

The Warriors scored on a Jarest

16-yard pass to Alex Behling with

3:18 left, one possession after a

Makhi Baskin interception seemingly

doomed them.

But a failed onside kick and subse-

quent first down run by Vinnie Hol-

mes sealed the deal for the Hornets.

Holmes paced Mansfield with 106

yards on the ground.

Jarest finished with 194 yards

through the air for King Philip.

“It’s great football,” Redding said.

“I’m sure Part II is coming in Novem-

ber, so we’ll see what happens.”

Jake Levin can be reached at

[email protected].

Cronin,Marbleheadgrounditout

Mansfield’s2-pointconversionkey

BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF

Mansfield’s Cincere Gill breaks away en route to a 20-yard touchdown

run in the No. 4 Hornets’ win over seventh-ranked King Philip.