Black Knights Tame The Tigers With Timely Touchdowns

 
 
 NORTH EASTON, Mass. – The end of the first half and beginning of the second half couldn’t have gone worse for Stoughton during last week’s trip to Mansfield.

It couldn’t have gone much better this time around.

Sparked by a broken play, the Black Knights finally got on the scoreboard with less than a minute to go in the first half and then scored on all four of its drives in the second half to land a 35-7 win on the road against Oliver Ames.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

Locked in a scoreless game, Stoughton’s first two drives combined for eight plays and six yards, and the Knights lined up to punt on fourth down after their third drive stalled at their own 35-yard line with time running out in the second quarter.

But a low snap and pressure from an Oliver Ames special teamer forced senior Emmett Pearl to abandon the kick and take off running down the left sideline, sprinting 10 yards to move the sticks and keep the drive going.

“That was his decision, that was huge,” said Stoughton head coach Greg Burke.

Seven plays later, facing a 3rd and 20 from near midfield, sophomore quarterback Jarred Daughtry rolled out to the right on a bootleg, planted his feet, and fired back to the left side where Pearl, who had lined up on the right side of the formation, sprinted free and hauled in the catch, going for a 49 touchdown with just 29 seconds left in the half.

“It was a low snap and I saw the kid rushing, and I saw the open sideline and I wanted to score before halftime,” Pearl said. “I took off and it paid off. We really haven’t practice that so it was more my call off of instincts. I think coach felt the momentum with me and gave me a shot [on the touchdown].

“We learned our lesson from last week about staying up and keeping the lead. We fought and didn’t let the momentum take over after their touchdown.”

That spark ignited the Stoughton offense, which couldn’t be stopped the rest of the way. The Black Knights received the opening kickoff of the second half and quickly marched 65 yards on nine plays, highlighted by a 26-yard pass from Daughtry to Jonay Ly (11 carries, 82 yards, one touchdown).

Stoughton faced a 3rd and 2 inside the 10-yard line and the Tigers got to Anthony Girolamo (12 carries, 118 yards, two touchdowns) in the backfield but the senior running back withstood the hit and bulldozed his way forward for a first down. Two plays later, Ly plunged in from a yard out as the Knights doubled their lead to 14-0.

“The end of the half one really sucked,” said OA head coach Ed DeWitt. “We felt good at halftime, just made the one mistake, but they came out right away and scored. We thought we had a shot to get a tackle to get them into a longer fourth down but [Girolamo] breaks the tackle and they get in the next play. It’s kind of a killer. We’d like to get a little more push back there.”

Oliver Ames marched into the red zone, helped by runs from Collin Williamson and Chad Silva, for the second time in the game but came up empty-handed again. Stoughton’s Michael Jardim defended a pass in the end zone in the first half to end the Tigers’ first trip and this time around, a sack from Tyler Noel and Liam Joyce pushed OA back and on second down and Pearl came up with an interception on the next play.

“I don’t know if we’re at their level yet but I think we’re really close,” DeWitt said. “But when they had a shot, they got it in. When we had a shot, we don’t. If you score during the two red zone trips, it’s a different game. We’re playing differently, they have to play it differently, and all of a sudden you’re right in the game. But those big point swings are hard to overcome.”

Stoughton turned that interception into more points, going 83 yards on just six plays. Ly had back-to-back carries of nine and 12 yards, Girolamo broke free for 26 more yards, Konrad Rogers added 10 yards, and two plays later, Girolamo muscled his way to a 16-yard touchdown.

“We’re happy with the way we’re doing it,” Burke said, “As long as we can stay healthy I think we can hang in there with anybody…we’re going to be fighting and clawing and that’s Stoughton all the way.”

Oliver Ames reached into its bag of tricks to get on the scoreboard and get some momentum back. A reverse on the first play saw junior Jaden Graham go for 14 yards and a first down. On the next, senior quarterback Jake Grimaldi tossed a quick pass out to classmate Sean Friel, who was behind the line of scrimmage. Friel launched a pass down the left sideline and junior Jack Morley hauled it in, broke free from the last defender, and toed the line for a 51-yard touchdown.

The momentum was short-lived for OA, as the onside kick attempt just slipped through and Stoughton took over. Two plays later, Girolamo burst up the middle for a 45-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

Stoughton got its second fourth down stop of the game and went 41 yards on seven plays, capped by a fourth down touchdown pass from Daughtry and Jardim from 11 yards out.

“Last week was tough, we played hard,” Burke said. “We didn’t win but we learned some lessons and fixed some mistakes. We’re just going to keep getting better and we’re happy we got our first league win. We’re hoping to get into the playoffs like everybody else in America.”

Stoughton football (1-0 Hockomock Davenport, 2-2 overall) is back on the road for the third straight week when it travels to Foxboro (3-1). Oliver Ames (0-1, 1-3) will try to bounce back when it takes to Canton.