Tag: Joe Bukuras

North Beats Mansfield, Stands Alone Atop Division

Kyle Gaumond
Kyle Gaumond (28) knocks the pass away from Hunter Ferreira (3) on fourth down to preserve a 14-13 win for North Attleboro and clinch the outright Kelley-Rex Division title. (Josh Perry/HockomockSports.com)

By Josh Perry, Managing Editor

MANSFIELD, Mass. – Mansfield coach Mike Redding has North Attleboro roots. Although he has been in charge of the Hornets for over 25 years and bleeds green, he took a moment after Friday night’s installment of this fierce rivalry to go to the Rocketeers celebrating at Alumni Field and congratulate them on the league title and urge them to bring home the Div. 3 state title.

It was a classy move by the Mansfield coach at the end of another emotional matchup between longtime rivals and perennial title challengers that North Attleboro won 14-13 to clinch the Kelley-Rex title outright and potentially the No. 1 seed in Div. 3 Southwest.

“This is great high school football,” said Redding. “It was a slugfest, two great teams, two great defenses, yards were hard to come by but both teams did enough to put themselves in position to win.”

The win gives North Attleboro its first league title since 2011 and its first outright Hockomock title since 2008. Once again, as has been the case all season, it was the Rocketeers defense that came up with the plays to win the game.

Leading by just a point with time winding down in the fourth quarter, North punted. Mansfield took over at its own 37 with less than five minutes remaining.

The Hornets got to the Rocketeers 33 and threw incomplete on first down. On second and 10, North dialed up a blitz and Bobby Mylod shot the gap to stuff Brian Lynch for a six-yard loss. On third down, the Rocketeers came again and sacked Anthony DeGirolamo for a seven-yard loss back to the 46. On fourth down, Kyle Gaumond leapt and swiped the ball out of the hands of Hunter Ferreira to end the drive.

North Attleboro ran out the clock and celebrated the victory.

“What we were trying to do is just get pressure on the quarterback,” said North coach Don Johnson. “I thought they had guys that they could throw to in the passing game…We were worried about it the whole game.”

“Defense has been doing it for us all year,” he added with a smile. “I’d just like the offense to score a couple more and make it a little easier for us.”

The Rocketeers offense looked great at the start of the game. Against a Mansfield defense that has been solid all season, North took the opening kickoff and marched 67 yards on 14 plays to take the lead.

Nick Morrison (12 carries, 68 yards) was big on the drive with six rushes, including a crucial fourth down and one gain of seven yards near midfield. Sophomore quarterback Chad Peterson showed off his arm hitting Davon Andrade for 18 yards and then snuck a shovel pass to Mylod on fourth and one from the four for the go-ahead score.

North Attleboro would not get another first down until its second possession of the third quarter.

Johnson said, “I think they frustrated us a little on offense. We had some blown assignments that we haven’t had in a few weeks, but I think that had a lot to do with their scheme over there.”

Mansfield was not able to get much going offensively but got a little spark right before the half. Ben Budwey’s punt return set the Hornets up at the North 37. DeGirolamo (7-11, 165 yards) hit Ferreira for 18 yards and then, following a four-yard loss, hit him again for another 10.

The Hornets had to settle for a 23-yard Diogo DeSousa field goal but were on the board and went into the break down 7-3.

To start the third quarter, DeGirolamo was strip sacked by Thomas Reynolds and Thomas Kummer jumped on the loose ball at the Hornets 37. But the Mansfield defense forced a turnover on downs, helped in part by Joe Bukuras’ tackle in the flat on Nick Dean for a four-yard loss on third and one.

The Hornets offense took advantage of the momentum swing and drove 71 yards on eight plays to take Mansfield’s first lead. DeGirolamo and Ferreira (six catches, 164 yards) hooked up for a 32-yard completion into North territory and then combined again on a 12-yard touchdown pass to the front pylon that put Mansfield ahead 10-7.

“He made some great passes,” said Redding of DeGirolamo. “Hunter is a great athlete and we tried to get him the ball tonight.”

“The offense is coming together. We just need to find a way to get to 21-24 and with our defense we’re going to win games.”

The lead was short-lived, as North Attleboro showed its resiliency to bounce right back. Peterson hit Ridge Olsen on the far side of the field for 14 yards and Nick Rajotte got 11, before Morrison broke free down the North sideline sprinting past his cheering teammates and the Hornets defense for a 39-yard score.

“We had the momentum,” said Redding, “and if we get one stop there and get the ball back with the lead, I think we win it. But, they’re a championship team, they answered, and they scored.”

Mansfield was not done. After a Connor Flynn sack pushed the Hornets back to third and 21 from their own 27, DeGirolamo and Ferreira connected on a 64-yard pass (taking advantage of a slip by the defensive back) down to the North nine. Again, the Hornets had to settle for a field goal and trailed 14-13 with 7:58 left.

Redding explained, “We thought we outplayed them in the second half and probably needed to score on the drive before, but we didn’t want to come up empty and thought that if we got a field goal and got the ball back that we felt good about driving.”

“Tonight we were just one drive away.”

Mylod, Gaumond, and the North defense did enough to stymie the Hornets on their final drive. When a personal foul flag was thrown for a late hit out of bounds on Mansfield with 1:30 left, the game was won and so was the title.

“I felt this team got over the hump and gained that confidence,” said Johnson. “This week in practice I had that feeling that everyone knew what they were doing for the first time. They entered the game with a lot of confidence.”

Even in defeat, Redding felt that this game had plenty of positives for the Hornets with the Div. 2 playoffs looming. He said, “We get a second life next week; this isn’t the end of the season. If we play like we did tonight, then we can make a run.”

He shook hands with the media and walked over to the North Attleboro players. As Mansfield made its way to the locker room, turning its back on the loss and focusing on next week, the Rocketeers stayed on the field taking a couple of moments to savor the win for a few more moments before moving forward.

Josh Perry can be contacted at JoshPerry@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.

Mansfield Wins Turnover Battle to Defeat Taunton

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By Ryan Lanigan, Editor-in-Chief
MANSFIELD, Mass. – The story of the day was turnovers.
And the good news for Mansfield is that they won that battle against Taunton. The Hornets forced five of them, four interceptions and one fumble, and turned them into a 32-14 win over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon.
The weird thing though was the fact that Mansfield was only able to get 3 points from the five turnovers. Meanwhile, Taunton turned both of their interceptions into touchdowns.
“The plus side, our defense the last three weeks has been great, but the thing we haven’t done is get turnovers,” Mansfield head coach Mike Redding said. “Today we had four interceptions, we finally forced turnovers. The negative is we didn’t take advantage of them as much as we should have.
“We tend to have a penalty at the wrong time or a turnover at the wrong time.”
Mansfield’s offense was able to score at the right times though. After the teams traded punts to start the game, the Hornets needed just four plays to cover 41 yards to find the end zone. The first two plays even went for negative yardage but junior quarterback connected with Ben Budwey for 29 yards and sophomore Joe Cox took the next play 15 yards into the end zone. Diogo DeSousa’s extra point made it 7-0 with 5:38 left in the opening quarter.
After two more punts, the Hornets were able to get their first turnover of the day when Mansfield’s Ben Wisnieski intercepted Jared Taje’s pass near midfield and raced all the way to the 16 yard line. The momentum swing didn’t last long though as on the first play, DeGirolamo was intercepted in the end zone by Carlos Borrero.
Taunton was about to turn its first takeaway into eight points, driving 80 yards on 11 plays. Taje connected with junior Adam McLaughlin twice for a total of 48 yards and then hit Tanner Costa over the middle for 21 yards on third down. Taje tried to link up with McLaughlin in the end zone but a defensive pass interference call put the ball inside the five yard line. Damion Theodule was able to punch it in from two yards out while Costa rushed in the two point conversion. Taunton took an 8-7 lead with 5:54 left in the second quarter.
Although Mansfield couldn’t capitalize on their first takeaway, they were able to respond to Taunton’s touchdown drive. The Hornets used 10 plays to go 59 yards before regaining the lead.
Without leading rushers Brian Lynch and Connor Finerty playing, Nick Graham (10 carries, 72 yards), Connor Driscoll and Cox (14 carries, 76 yards) all moved the ball up the field on the ground. DeGirolamo went back to the air and hit Budwey right on the one yard line. On the next play, Graham found a hole and punched it in. Driscoll’s two point rush gave Mansfield a 15-8 lead with just 35 seconds in the half.
“We still have a long way to go on [offense],” Redding said. “It’s a good win though. Without Finerty, Lynch and Garvin, we had three of our top five backs out so any win in the league is good with those guys out.”
The Tigers attempted to get something going before the end of the half but Wisnieski was there again for an interception. Mansfield’s offense moved some but were forced to attempt a 39 yard field that was short as time expired in the first half.
Driscoll put an end to Taunton’s opening drive of the second half, picking Taje off on first down. Mansfield’s offense also stalled though, going four and out and were forced to punt. But that was fine as the Hornets’ defense again came up with a stop.
Mansfield’s ensuing drive got a boost to start when Taunton was flagged for fair catch interference. DeGirolamo hit sophomore Hunter Ferreira on first down for 20 yards and two plays later, Graham just raced through the defense for a 12 yard score to make it 22-8 with 4:13 left in the third.
The Tigers fumbled just two plays into their next drive and for the first – and only – time in the game, Mansfield was able to turn a takeaway into points. Diogo DeSousa hit a 24 yard field goal to extend Mansfield’s lead to 25-8 shortly before the final quarter.
“When you lose the turnover battle it keeps your defense out there and they control the clock,” Taunton head coach Chris Greding said. “The thing about Mansfield is they are so well coached and they don’t make many mistakes. Our boys knew that but we’re very young and made some mistakes. We told them they won’t make mistakes. We had to play a near perfect game. I’m proud of our effort but you can’t make those mistakes against Mansfield.”
Two plays into the next series, Joe Bukuras came away with Mansfield’s fourth interception on the game but DeGirolamo was intercepted by McLaughlin in the end zone for a touchback.
Greding inserted sophomore Collin Hunter in at quarterback on the Tigers’ next drive and was rewarded. Hunter connected with McLaughlin for six yards and then hit Michael Fernandez for 22 more yards. A short completion to McLaughlin was once against followed by a completion to Fernandez for a first down. The next to passes went to McLaughlin for 34 total yards.
Two plays later, Theodule got into the end zone from a yard out to cut the deficit 25-14 with six minutes to play. On the drive, Hunter went 6/6 for 78 yards. The sophomore finished 11/15 for 140 yards in the game.
“Collin has really progressed over the last six weeks,” Greding said, also noting the impressive play by McLaughin at receiver. “Each week he’s gotten better and better. As a staff we’re very confident putting him in if need be and he did very well.”
Mansfield capped the scoring with just over four minutes to play when Graham raced in for his third touchdown of the day, this one a 29 yard rush.
The Hornets (3-2, 2-1) will look to pick up their third league win next week when they travel to Franklin. Taunton (0-5, 0-3) will try to get into the win column when they take a trip to Community Field to take on North Attleboro.
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at RyanLanigan@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.

Warriors Stun Mansfield With Last Second TD

Brian Lee
KP coach Brian Lee gives his team a fiery speech following the Warriors 15-7 victory over Mansfield on Friday night. (Josh Perry/HockomockSports.com)

By Josh Perry, Managing Editor

WRENTHAM, Mass. – King Philip took over at its own 28 yard line with 4:59 remaining in a tied game. The Warriors, still searching for their first win of the season, had only six first downs in the game and just two since halftime.

Despite having little to no success offensively for nearly 40 minutes, KP marched 72 yards on 13 plays and with just two seconds left on the clock junior fullback Alex Olsen punched it in from a yard out on fourth and goal. John DeLuca added a two-point conversion and the Warriors emerged with a 15-7 victory over Mansfield on the new (and soaked) turf at Macktaz Field.

“So proud of them,” said KP coach Brian Lee. “You have to be opportunistic and when we had a chance the kids made plays.”

He added, “We had a very good week of practice; we felt very confident coming in. We were confident that if we could get lined up, which isn’t always easy, that we’d be alright.”

The drive started, as would be expected from the Warriors, on the ground. Two carries from junior Giovanni Fernandez (15 carries, 73 yards) pushed KP to the 41. Then KP caught Mansfield with a perfectly executed screen to Sean Garrity for 17 yards into Hornets territory.

The drive nearly ended three plays later when Fernandez had the ball pop out on a third down run, but KP managed to recover. On fourth down, DeLuca (6-15, 76 yards) hit R.J. McCarthy on a slant to just get past the marker for a first down. On the next play, DeLuca looked downfield for Leo Munafo, who somehow pulled the ball down from behind his head for a 24-yard completion.

“Leo catching it and it looked like the [David] Tyree catch but we’ll take it,” said Lee with a giant grin. “When they needed to make plays, they did.”

Two DeLuca keepers later and KP was at the two yard line. Olsen got one yard closer on third down and the teams let the clock run all the way down to just eight seconds before the Warriors called timeout and decided on one last play.

“You come down and you don’t want to just leave it out there,” exolained Lee about not going for a field goal. “There’s a lot of things…could have a bobbled snap or something like that. So, if we could pound it in that’s what we wanted to do, but certainly I thought of a field goal there.”

He joked, “I wasn’t going to throw it there, that’s for sure.”

Olsen got across the line for the touchdown that sent the KP sidelines into hysterics. A Mansfield penalty after the play pushed the Warriors closer, so they went for two and DeLuca added the conversion on a keeper.

The two teams combined for seven first downs and eight punts in an opening half dominated by the defenses. Connor Finerty and Nick Martin were everywhere for the Hornets to plug the gaps and stop the Warriors running game, while Joe Bukuras broke up several attempts to get the ball out to Munafo.

The young KP defense, with four sophomores seeing regular playing time, counted on seniors Cory Lombardo and Michael Riggs to stop Mansfield’s backs from getting to the edge. KP held Brian Lynch to 33 yards on nine carries and Nick Graham to 25 yards on seven carries.

It would be those two players that would combine to get the Hornets on the board in the second quarter, but it took a trick play to open up the Warriors. Lynch took a pitch to the right and stopped to look downfield where he found his classmate Graham streaking up the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown.

The score stayed the same as the half entered its final minute, but with 43 seconds left Riggs sacked Mansfield quarterback Anthony DeGirolamo and forced a fumble that was recovered by Fernandez at the Hornets 15.

KP took advantage of the short field. After a short run, DeLuca hit Munafo for 13 yards down to the Mansfield one and on the next play Fernandez burst through the middle to tie the game at 7-7.

The game went back and forth with winning field position in the windy, rainy conditions seeming to be the primary goal of both offenses. Mansfield gained the upper hand in the fourth quarter with KP pinned back several times, but could not turn territorial advantage into points.

In a close game, all it takes is one drive and that is exactly what KP put together on Friday.

“We have a very young team and we’re taking some time getting them back in it,” said Lee. “It’s tough when you’re used to having some success and you’re 0-3 and it gets harder to sell that hard work, but they’ve bought in.”

Lee was asked if he could remember the last time that KP had beaten Mansfield in back-to-back years. He laughed and responded, “I don’t know. I have no idea.”

“That program is unbelievable. We have so much respect for them and for Mike and what they do year-in, year-out and to go back-to-back…I can remember back in the day that I never thought it could happen.”

King Philip (1-3, 1-1) will travel to Franklin next Friday, while Mansfield (2-2, 1-1) will host Taunton.

Josh Perry can be contacted at JoshPerry@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.

Ferreira, Mansfield Pick Up 'Character' Road Win


By Ryan Lanigan, Editor-in-Chief
ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Ordinarily one single punt doesn’t get too much attention, let alone be the play of the game.
But Mansfield’s 9-8 win over Attleboro at Tozier-Cassidy was no ordinary game.
“This was a hard one to describe,” Mansfield head coach Mike Redding said.
Facing 4th and less than a yard at their own 43 with a one point lead and 1:12 left in the game, Redding had a choice to make.
With the way his defense had been playing, Attleboro’s big goal line defense on the other side of the ball, and full trust in his long snapper and punter…Redding elected to punt.
The decision worked out perfectly for the Hornets. Senior Connor Finerty’s snap was on the money and sophomore Hunter Ferreira booted a 50 yard punt. The kick eluded Attleboro’s return man and a kind bounce pushed the ball all the way to the Bombardiers’ 8 yard line.
Attleboro was forced to go 92 yards in one minute without any timeouts but the Hornets defense didn’t allow anything deep and the Bombardiers’ last second Hail Mary fell incomplete.
“The punt may have been the play of the game,” Redding said. “We really did not want to punt. You worry about the snap, them blocking it but then on the other side if you don’t get it, and [Attleboro] is big up front, you give them the ball on your own 43 with plenty of time. It was one of the plays of the night, the punt sailing, getting the bounce and now they have a 90 yard field. I think a lot of people were wondering if I should go for it but thank God we got the punt in and got yardage out of it.”
With Mansfield’s defense having allowed just one touchdown so far in the game, Redding was confident in his defense.
“We felt pretty good,” Redding said about his defense. “We had bent a little and they hit some short passes but they hadn’t got their run game going. They hadn’t gotten anything downfield and we have a pretty experienced secondary. Mark DeGirolamo, our defense coordinator, did a good job of mixing zone and man and blitzing. So we felt like it was better to give them a 70 yard field than a 40 yard field. We hadn’t run the ball that well and they went with their goal line defense, it looked even tougher to get that yard up inside. Fortunately the punt paid off.”
As good as Ferreira’s punt was at the end of the fourth quarter, the sophomore hauled in five catches for 127 yards, including a pair of big catches on each of Mansfield’s scoring drives.
“Unbelievable catches in traffic,” Redding said.
The first came on Mansfield’s second possession of the game. After Attleboro had an interception on the first series, Mansfield’s defense responded by getting the ball back when Attleboro could only get one yard on four plays.
The Hornets tried a little trickery on first down as junior Brian Lynch took the handoff but instead of heading up field, set his feet and launched a pass up field. The pass was a little under thrown and looked like Attleboro was going to come away with its second interception in as many series but Ferreira was able to leap and snag the ball away for a 29 yard catch.
Three runs got the Hornets inside the Attleboro 10-yard line but the Bombardiers defense came up with a big stop on third down. Diogo DeSousa drilled a 21-yard field goal with 4:34 left in the first quarter.
Attleboro’s offense didn’t take long to answer back. Midway through the drive and facing a 4th and 1 from Mansfield’ 34, Attleboro coach Mike Strachan went for it and this time quarterback Tyler McGovern pushed through the pile on the sneak for the first down. Two plays later, McGovern handed off to senior Brendan Nunes, who sprinted to the left side and then used a sweet cut back and hit an open lane for a 33 yard touchdown.
Instead of a traditional extra point, Attleboro lined up with their offensive line set up on the far right. With Mansfield trying to figure out the play, Cam Furtado took the snap and outraced defenders to the left for the two-point conversion to make it 8-3 with 59 seconds left in the first quarter.
Attleboro got possession back on the ensuing kickoff and Elijah Lewis’ chip shot down the near sideline was recovered by Furtado. But a penalty and a pair of negative plays, the latter an 11 yard sack from Tyrone Pascual, set Attleboro up for 3rd and 32.
The Hornets had a charge late in the first half, moving the ball all the way to the Attleboro 20-yard line but an interception on a lob pass into the end zone brought the first half to a close.
The Bombardiers moved the ball close to the Mansfield red zone to open the second half but a pair of pass break ups by the Hornets’ secondary put a stop to it. On first down, McGovern’s pass was broken up by Connor Driscoll in the end zone. On 3rd and 7, Joe Bukuras got his hand in the way of another pass. A holding call made it 4th and 17 and Mansfield was able to come up with the stop.
The stop was key as Mansfield took their first possession of the second half all the way to the end zone for their lone touchdown of the game. A 16 yard rush from Nick Graham got things going.
Ferreira came up big once again for Mansfield. On 3rd and 11, Mansfield quarterback Anthony DeGirolamo eluded a would be tackler and stepped up into the pocket to fire 17 yard pass to Ferreira to keep the drive alive. Then on the next play, DeGirolamo floated one up to the sophomore. It looked as though Attleboro’s defense had position on the play but Ferreira seemingly climbed an invisible ladder and ripped the ball away for a 39 yard completion.
“I think Anthony really stepped up tonight, he made some big passes,” Redding said. “A couple of big third down conversions. I think on the field goal drive he hit one, and on the touchdown drive he hits one. If he doesn’t hit those, we may get shutout. So I think he took a big step forward in a game where we needed to hit some passes.”
Two plays later, Lynch punched it in for a two yard score. Mansfield’s two-point rush came up short to make it 9-8 with 2:51 left in the third.
Both teams trade punts before Attleboro got inside Mansfield’s 30 yard line on the next drive. Facing 4th and 18th, Strachan went for a field goal but the 45 yard attempt was short.
Mansfield punted it back and Attleboro once again made it into Hornet territory but four straight incompletions turns the ball over on downs. Mansfield’s next drive ended with Ferreira’s perfect punt.
“These are the games we have to build off of,” Strachan said. “Mansfield’s a very good program. They did a good job and I just thought we missed some opportunities out there. We’ll look at the film and look at what we left out there. We just have to build off of this.”
DeGirolamo finished 6/13 for 122 yards, Ferreira had five catches for 127 yards and Nick Graham had five carries for 45 yards and one catch for 18 yards. Attleboro’s McGovern was 17/35 for 197 yards, Brendan Nunes had 44 yards on 12 carries and Alex Silva had a game-high 10 catches for 129 yards.
With the win, Mansfield improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in Hockomock League Kelley-Rex Division play. Attleboro drops to 1-2 and 0-1 in the Kelley-Rex.
“This is a great win on the road,” Reading said. “I think [Attleboro] is a very good football team and they’re going to make a lot of noise. Just finding a way to win tonight was good for a young team that’s still in the process of maturing. This was a good character game, wasn’t a great execution game but a character win.”
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at RyanLanigan@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.

'Rockett'-Powered Prep Too Much for Hornets

Hayden Rockett Joe Bukuras
Hayden Rockett (24) had three touchdown receptions for Prep and proved to be hard to handle for Joe Bukuras and the rest of the Mansfield defense. (Josh Perry/HockomockSports.com)

By Josh Perry, Managing Editor
MANSFIELD, Mass. – The Hornets trekked into the locker room trailing by just seven points against St. John’s Prep, widely considered one of the top five teams in the state. Head coach Mike Redding knew his team had not played its best in the opening half but was feeling okay as his team was still in the game.
“We start off okay and then we just got very sloppy and they adjusted to some stuff we did on the first drive, but then we go in at halftime and we’re playing not very well and kind of sloppy but we’re only down seven,” he explained.
Redding knew that if his team could just keep the lead to one score in the fourth quarter then the Hornets would have a shot at the upset. Unfortunately for Mansfield, Prep’s offense found its groove in the second half.
SJP senior quarterback Ollie Eberth threw four touchdowns and ran for another and junior wideout Hayden Rockett caught three touchdown passes, as Prep scored 28 second half points (21 in the fourth quarter) and rolled to a 42-14 victory at Alumni Field.
“We just couldn’t get a stop when we needed it,” said Redding. “If you play the run, then they go play action and if you go soft on the play action they’re going to pound it down your throat.”
Mansfield got off to the perfect start. The Hornets took the opening kickoff and marched 65 yards on 12 plays, chewing nearly seven minutes off the clock, before junior tailback Brian Lynch finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown.
The lead lasted less then two minutes. Prep answered with Eberth (11-12, 203 yards) hitting Rockett (seven receptions, 144 yards) on the outside for a 22-yard score that tied it at 7-7.
In the second quarter, Mansfield had the ball and was driving inside Prep territory. Connor Finerty (nine carries, 33 yards) was stopped a yard short on fourth and two from the 41-yard-line. On the very next play, Eberth took a keeper 60 yards to give Prep its first lead.
Prep, which was getting the ball back to start the second half, put together a late drive to try and double the lead before the break. Mansfield needed a defensive play and senior Josh Shafer provided three in a row on two sacks and a tackle for a loss to end the threat and keep it a one score game.
When asked how his team was feeling at the break, Prep coach Brian St. Pierre responded, “It was more frustration…we stopped ourselves twice going in. It was a calm locker room, we felt good about our plan and it was just about executing.”
The execution was much better in the third quarter by just getting the ball into the hands of Rockett. He took a swing pass and weaved his way through would-be tacklers, reversing field, stepping back away from defenders, and somehow breaking away for a 52-yard touchdown early in the third that made it 21-7.
“Every body was just flying at me,” explained Rockett, “and I was just trying to make a move. I saw one person and I’d step back, step back, step back and I had some green grass in front of me and went straight in.”
St. Pierre added, “That play…I don’t know if you’ll see a better one this year. It was special.”
The Hornets would not cave. After a good open-field tackle on the edge against Rockett forced a Prep punt, Mansfield got the big play it needed when Nick Graham (seven carries, 73 yards) broke free on a 48-yard sweep to the left that put the Hornets inside the five. Three plays later, Lynch (the 2014 HockomockSports.com Underclassman of the Year) punched it in from two yards out.
Once again, the visitors came right back and (once again) it was Eberth that finished off the drive by hitting Rockett down the far sideline and the junior somehow wiggled away from a tackler for a 24-yard TD that made it 28-14 early in the fourth.
After a Mansfield punt, Eberth used play action to find a wide open Declan Burt on a crossing route for a 19-yard strike that put the game away. Prep would score again in the final minute to add gloss to the final score.
Mansfield showed signs in the running game, but struggled against the Prep pass rush, which rarely needed a blitz and relied on its size advantage at the line of scrimmage.
Redding said, “It wore us down. They never had to blitz and they never had to play both ways. It was fresh 11 and then another 11. It took its toll in the fourth quarter.”
“We just need to settle Anthony (DeGirolamo) down and get the ball more to (Ben) Budwey and (Hunter) Ferreira and (Mike) Arnold on our play action. That was the missing piece, we couldn’t get our play action going and they did.”
Mansfield will travel to Haverhill next Friday night.
Josh Perry can be contacted at JoshPerry@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.

Football: 2015 Kelley-Rex Division Preview

By HockomockSports.com Staff

Attleboro

2014 Record: 4-7
2014 Finish: Reached D1 South Quarterfinal
Coach: Mike Strachan
Key/Returning Players: Kyle Murphy, Sr., OT/DT, 6-4, 275 lbs.; Brendan Nunes, Sr., WR/CB, 6-0, 175 lbs.; Tyler McGovern, Jr., QB, 6-3, 190 lbs.; John Burns, Sr., FB/OLB, 5-9, 165 lbs.; Alex Silva, Sr., TE/DE, 5-11, 185 lbs.
Outlook: The Bombardiers come into this season hoping to regain some of the magic of their 2013 run to the Div. 1 South final and doing it while replacing last year’s starting backfield and leading receiver. The reason for optimism in Attleboro is the return of senior lineman Kyle Murphy, who has emerged as a legit FBS prospect and one of the top players on the line in the state. Head coach Mike Strachan told ESPNBoston.com, “He’s got very good feet for a kid that big. We’re looking for some great things from him this season.”
In addition, junior quarterback Tyler McGovern is back under center for his second season, after splitting time with Ross Killion in 2014. McGovern has the size at 6-foot-3 and also has the arm to be a major weapon in the offense and try to make up for some of the lost production from the graduating running backs. McGovern’s growth at QB will be crucial for Attleboro. Strachan said, “He’s got a very quick release, and he’s worked on his feet all offseason. We need him to help get us back to that level we were at two years ago.”
Brendan Nunes is one of the receivers that Attleboro is hoping can turn into a primary target along with senior tight end Alex Silva, although there are question marks about who can become the No. 1 back to take pressure off McGovern and the passing game.
Defense should be a strength for the Bombardiers, who bring back almost all of last year’s starters. Murphy can dominate the line of scrimmage and forces double teams and game plans that can open space for his teammates. John Burns and the linebacking corps will be hoping to take advantage of that extra room to make plays.

Franklin

2014 Record: 5-6
2014 Finish: Missed playoffs
Coach: Brad Sidwell
Key/Returning Players: Ben Riggs SR. 6-3, 300,OL/DL; Joe Giacolone SR 6-2, 270, OL/DL; Nick Yelle SR. 5-9, 180, LB/RB; Luke Gordon SR. 6-1, 175, WR/DB; Sam Harrell SR. 6-0, 180, WR/DB; Jake Lyons JR. 5-10, 190, RB/DB; Tyler Gomes JR. 6-1, 210, FB/DE; Brad Jarosz JR QB; Will O’Reilly SR. WR/DB; Eddie Scannapieco WR/DB
Outlook: The Panthers come into 2015 lacking varsity experience in a lot of places, but with more depth at the skill positions and improved play at the line of scrimmage that has head coach Brad Sidwell entering his 20th season with hopes of getting Franklin into the tournament after back-to-back 5-6 seasons. He said, “Not a lot of experience, but many have been progressing through the sub varsity programs.[We] will play physical football.”
The Panthers will be starting a new quarterback this season with junior Brad Jarosz expected to take over under center and he will have plenty of weapons to use in Franklin’s typically up-tempo offense. Nick Yelle will be in the backfield along with Jake Lyons, while Sam Harrell, Will O’Reilly, Luke Gordon and Eddie Scannapieco are all back on the outside. The offensive line is improved, according to Sidwell, although it may lack depth in case of injuries. Ben Riggs and Joe Giacolone are two-way linemen that can be dominant on both sides of the ball.
Defensively, Franklin will hope that the skill position players continue to develop into strong players in the secondary, while counting on junior defensive end Tyler Gomes to continue his emergence as a strong presence in the pass rush. Franklin will be counting on the opening games against Arlington and Milford to prepare it for the battles to come in the Kelley-Rex Division.
Sidwell said, “Looking forward to working with this group, hard working and great attitude. Getting off to a good start and gaining confidence will be important.”

King Philip

2014 Record: 10-1
2014 Finish: Reached D2 South final
Coach: Brian Lee
Key/Returning Players: John DeLuca, Jr. QB; Bill Dittrich, Sr. OL/DL; James Cooke, Sr. OL/DL; Cory Lombardo, Sr. LB; Nick Bernier Garzon, Sr. DL; Steven Eaton, Sr. RB; R.J. McCarthy, Sr. WR/DB, Giovanni Fernandez, Jr. RB
Outlook: King Philip is coming off its first outright league title and a trip to the Div. 2 South final where it gave eventual state champion Marshfield one of its toughest games of the season. The Warriors are a team based on ball control offense and hard-nosed defense and despite losing a strong core from last year’s squad, head coach Brian Lee will ensure that KP remains a tough team to play against even with a host of young players.
Quarterback John Deluca returns for his junior season, but without some of the weapons that were so prolific from last year including HockomockSports.com Player of the Year Mark Glebus and wideout Kyle Loewen. Senior running back Steven Eaton will take most of the carries and is hoping to develop some of the explosiveness that made Glebus such a weapon last year. Junior Gio Fernandez also saw some carries last year and is a load at running back, especially in short-yardage situations. Senior R.J. McCarthy is a player to watch at receiver.
The offensive and defensive lines remain a strength for KP with Bill Dittrich and James Cooke returning. Nick Bernier Garzon will also help out on the line, but the key to the defense is senior middle linebacker Cory Lombardo who will be the leader and continues the pattern of strong linebackers at KP.
If the offense can find a groove and the young players develop quickly, KP will have its sights set on a second straight Hockomock title. But, as Lee said, there are “a lot of rookies out there.”

Mansfield

2014 Record: 6-5
2014 Finish: Reached D2 South Quarterfinal
Coach: Mike Redding
Key/Returning Players: Diogo Desousa, Jr. K/DE, 5-11, 182 lbs.; Connor Finerty, Sr. RB/LB, 5-11, 200 lbs.; Anthony DeGirolamo, Jr. QB/DB, 5-11, 165 lbs.; Ben Wisnieski, Sr. RB/DB, 5-10, 160 lbs.; Hunter Ferreira, Jr. WR/DB, 6-1, 185 lbs.; Brian Lynch, Jr. RB/DB, 5-8, 170 lbs.; Nick Krouskos, Jr. FB/LB, 5-9, 175 lbs.; Mike Arnold, Sr. TE/DE, 6-1, 205 lbs.; Josh Schafer, Jr. OL/DL, 6-2, 230 lbs.; Matt Kashtan, Sr. OG/NG, 5-8 195 lbs.; Joe Bukuras, Jr. RB/DB, 5-9, 160 lbs.; A.J. Gibbs, Jr. OL/DL, 5-11, 270 lbs.
Outlook: Mansfield enters the season with plenty of depth on both sides of the ball, as the Hornets try to regain the Kelley-Rex Division crown they lost to King Philip in an injury-plagued 2014 season. Head coach Mike Redding, entering his 28th year in charge, is expecting to learn quite a bit about his team with St. John’s Prep, Haverhill, KP, and Attleboro to start the season. Redding noted, “We will need to be hitting on all cylinders for those key games early.”
“Overall, we’re on the young side and a little undersized, but very talented at skill positions and we have very good overall team strength and good team chemistry and leadership,” said Redding.
Mansfield will be making a change under center with junior Anthony Girolamo taking over and his task will be made a little easier by the talented backfield of senior Connor Finerty and junior Brian Lynch, who is coming off a breakout sophomore campaign that saw him rush for eight touchdowns and more than 800 yards. In addition, the Hornets have talent on the edges with receivers Ben Budwey and Hunter Ferreira and athletic tight end Mike Arnold. Junior Josh Schafer will be a player to watch on the line.
Finerty headlines the defensive unit as the outside linebacker and leader on that side of the ball. He will be joined by Ferreira and Anthony Keefe on the outside with Nick Krouskos, Travis Sjoberg, and Nick Martin in the middle. The real strength of the defense could lie in the secondary with all four starters returning and plenty of depth behind them. Joe Bukuras and Connor Driscoll are the corners with Ben Budwey and Ben Wisnieski at safety. Special teams will also be strong with returning kicker Diogo DeSousa, who Redding calls “one of the best kickers” he has had in his time with the Hornets.

North Attleboro

2014 Record: 8-3
2014 Finish: Reached D3 Southwest Quarterfinal
Coach: Don Johnson
Key/Returning Players: Connor Flynn, Sr. K/RB/LB; Nick Morrison, Sr. RB/LB; Bobby Mylod, Jr. RB/LB; Nick Rajotte, Jr. RB/DB; Brodey Barr, Sr. QB/DB; Kyle McCarthy, Jr. QB/DB; Ridge Olsen, Sr. WR/DB; Kyle Gaumond, Sr. WR/DB; Patrick Johnson, Sr. RB/WR/DB; Andy Katch, Sr. OL/DL; Joe Flaherty, Sr. OL; Brendan Nally, Jr. OL; Alex Dion, Sr. OL; Josh Morrison, Sr. OL/DL; Sam Morrison, Sr. OL/DL; Tom Reynolds, Jr. OL/DL; Davon Andrade, Sr. TE/DL
Outlook: After a stunning home loss to Medfield in the opening round of the Div. 3 Southwest playoffs last fall, North Attleboro returns a number of skill position players with hopes of making a run at the Kelley-Rex Division title.
The backfield is loaded with seniors Connor Flynn, who averaged 12.1 yards per carry until a wrist injury kept him out, and Nick Morrison providing steady hands and downhill running while being pushed by the explosive duo of juniors Nick Rajotte and Bobby Mylod, who combined for 13 touchdowns last season. Head coach Don Johnson said of his running backs, “All four backs are versatile and can play multiple positions.” On the outside, North boasts plenty of size at wideout with 6-foot-5 senior Ridge Olsen on one side and Kyle Gaumond on the other.
The biggest question mark is who will be getting the ball to those skill position players? There has been a three-way battle at quarterback during the preseason between senior Brodey Barr, who saw some time under center last year and was primarily a runner, athletic junior Kyle McCarthy, and sophomore Chad Peterson. Johnson explained, “We could use them all, but it might depend more upon how things shake out at other positions, particularly on defense. All three are competitive athletes that can help us in other spots.”
Defensively, North has loads of depth on the line if not loads of experience. Senior twins Josh and Sam Morrison will split time along with senior Davon Andrade and senior defensive tackle Andy Katch, The linebacking corps features Mylod in the middle with Flynn and Nick Morrison on the outside. In the secondary, Gaumond, Barr, Rajotte, Olsen, McCarthy, and Patrick Johnson will all be in the mix depending on match-ups.

Taunton

2014 Record: 2-9
2014 Finish: Missed playoffs
Coach: Chris Greding
Key/Returning Players: Brian Cherenfant, RB/DB; Jake Norberto, OL; Santiago Lopez, OL; Jason DaRosa, RB; Damion Theodule, DB; Matt Grey, LB; Jared Williams, DL; Tanner Costa, RB/DB; Lazare Joseph, RB; Adam McLaughlin, WR; Connor Briggs, OL; Nick Brown, DL; Sylvester English, DL; Zakeem Harrow, DL; John Chretien, LB; Breven Walker, DB; Amir Rehim, LB

Outlook: The Tigers are coming off a 2-9 season and will have a new quarterback under center, but head coach Chris Greding is counting on his depth on the line and at the skill positions and overall team speed to get Taunton in the mix in the division.
Senior Brain Cherenfant is one of the fastest players in the league and gives the Tigers a weapon both on offense and in special teams. He will be joined in the backfield by Jason DeRosa, Lazare Joseph and Coyle transfer Tanner Costa, giving Taunton a number of weapons. Adam McLaughlin will be a player to watch at wideout.
The line has also been strengthened with Jake Norberto and Santiago Lopez coming back on the offensive side of the ball and Jared Williams on defense. Connor Briggs will be another player to keep an eye on opening holes for the backs, while the defensive line is bolstered by Florida transfer Sylvester English, Texas transfer Nick Brown, and Boston transfer Zakeem Harrow. The linebacking corps includes Matt Grey and John Chretien, while Breven Walker, Cherenfant and Costa will all play bog roles in the secondary.