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By Josh Perry, Managing Editor
ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Following a week in which it scored 55 points to bring home the Elks Trophy against crosstown rival Bishop Feehan, the Attleboro offense failed to ignite against defending Div. 3 state champion Dartmouth in a non-league game at Tozier-Cassidy Field on Friday night.
The Bombardiers defense did its part, limiting their former Old Colony League rival to just one touchdown and forcing three straight three and outs in the third quarter. But Attleboro turned the ball over four times and only reached the Dartmouth red zone once in the game, as the visitors pulled out a 10-0 win that evened both teams records at 1-1.
“Turnovers, you just can’t do it,” said Attleboro coach Mike Strachan. “Not in these games. It’s so tight, going back and forth, and we get field position then we turn the ball over.”
Attleboro was missing senior running back Brandon Nunes, the HockomockSports.com Player of the Week from week one, who was out with an ankle injury. Nunes accounted for four touchdowns against Feehan.
When asked how much his absence hurt, Strachan responded, “He’s explosive. We have to be able to bounce back from losing a Nunes or a senior leader…I give the credit to Dartmouth; they came to play and they took care of the ball.”
The teams traded punts on their first possessions of the game and Attleboro took over for its second try on offense in Dartmouth territory at the 49. Senior Brian Letourneau, who started in place of Nunes, converted on fourth and one to give Attleboro a first down at the Indians, but on the next play Tyler McGovern was picked off in the end zone by Matt Craig.
Cameron Furtado put a big hit on a Dartmouth receiver to put an end to the next Dartmouth drive and got the ball back on its own 36. Eight plays later, including a 20-yard hook-up between McGovern and senior Alex Silva, the Bombardiers faced second and five from the Dartmouth 11. A no gain by Letourneau was followed by a pair of passes that sailed out the end zone ending the drive.
The Indians took advantage of the Bombardiers failure to score. Dartmouth went on a drive that would eat up the rest of the time in the half as well as 74 yards. The Indians had the ball first and goal from the nine but Sean Donnelly stepped up and made a big play for a seven-yard loss.
On the 17th play of the drive, Dartmouth lined up a 32-yard field goal attempt. The Attleboro coaches called timeout just before the snap and watched as Kyle Sequeira’s kick sailed wide left. After the timeout, Sequeira’s second attempt was right down the middle for a 3-0 lead.
Dartmouth went three and out to start the third, but three plays later and after an Attleboro first down, Sean Smialek ripped the ball out of Letourneau’s hands and raced to the Bombardiers 20. Again, the defense stepped up to force a turnover on downs.
“I thought we bounced back from a week ago where we cleaned up a lot of things that we did,” said Strachan of his team’s defensive effort.
Senior lineman Kyle Murphy was a force on the line of scrimmage and was seemingly in every tackle, while also putting pressure on Dartmouth quarterback Cole Jacobsen. Senior Matt Mahoney also stepped up with big plays in the third quarter.
Strachan added, “I was really happy with the defense. That’s how we’re going to have to play when we hit the Hockomock League next week.”
Attleboro started to move the ball again on its next drive, but on third and two from its own 45, McGovern’s pass into the flat was deflected and intercepted by Craig again. The turnover did not prove costly, as the defense again held Dartmouth to three and out.
“We have to learn from this,” said Strachan. “You can’t turn the ball over and have expectations too high.”
On its first possession of the fourth quarter, Dartmouth took over at its own 19. The Indians would go 81 yards on nine plays to ice the game, highlighted by a 23-yard keeper by Jacobsen who also finished the drive with a three-yard run.
The defense thought it may have kept hope alive for Attleboro in the final few minutes by making one more big stand, but the ensuing punt was muffed and recovered by the Indians to run out the clock.
Attleboro will now turn its sights to Mansfield and the start of Hockomock League play next Friday at home. Strachan knows the challenges continue to grow for the Bombardiers.
“They’re such good programs,” he explained. “It really comes back to practice and getting things into the game plan that we need to execute.”
Josh Perry can be contacted at JoshPerry@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.
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