ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Attleboro got the ball to start the second half of Friday night’s non-league game at Tozier-Cassidy Field with the score knotted at 7-7. When the Bombardiers took the field again for their second possession of the third quarter, they did so with a two-score advantage.
The Bombardiers blocked back-to-back punts for touchdowns to open up a 14-point lead and never looked back. Matt Harvie tossed three second-half touchdown passes, two of them to Aidan Pantages, and Attleboro rolled to a 42-19 victory over Stoughton.
“It’s great as you’re calling an offense to sit on the sidelines and watch the defense score,” first-year Attleboro coach Jim Winters said. “It certainly takes a weight off of you. We’ve got a lot of athletes, we put them out there, and they made plays.”
Attleboro’s first drive of the game was a turnover on downs at the Stoughton 35. Two plays later, the Black Knights struck first. Jared Daughtry looked out to his left for a receiver but, with everyone covered, he turned to his right and hit Tagh Swierzewski in the flat. The senior running back burst past the Attleboro secondary, racing down the sideline for a 58-yard touchdown.
Pantages had a big day on special teams as well as at receiver. He returned the ensuing kickoff 35 yards out to midfield. After a long injury delay, Attleboro went to work offensively. Harvie (10-of-17, 216 yards) looked downfield on third and nine, finding Cole McKenna in one-on-one coverage for a 38-yard gain. After a 10-yard gain by Adrian Rivera (16 carries, 77 yards), Harvie punched it in with a one-yard sneak to tie things at 7-7.
Stoughton was on the move on its next possession, with Daughtry (7-of-18, 149 yards) hitting Alex Huynh (four catches, 75 yards) for 21 to get to the Attleboro 29. The Black Knights converted on third and short to have first down at the 16, but Brody McKenna sacked Daughtry for a loss of eight and then snuffed out a screen to Swierzewski on third and long for a loss of six to force a turnover on downs.
Both teams were moving the ball and getting into the opposition half of the field, but neither converted those drives into more points before the break.
Attleboro got another good kickoff return, this time of 40 yards by Michael Huntington, and started at the Stoughton 45, but was forced into a three-and-out. Stoughton had little more success starting at its own eight and Liam Pearl dropped back to punt from the goal line. Cole McKenna got around the edge and blocked the kick, with lineman Isaiah Miranda recovering the loose ball and setting off a wild celebration on the Attleboro sideline.
The Black Knights struggled to move the ball on their next possession as well, with Aiden Hochwarter breaking up the third down pass to force another punt. Pearl’s kick was blocked again, this time by Rivera racing around the end. Hochwarter picked up the ball inside the 20 and tiptoed down the sideline for the score.
“It happened to us last week too,” Stoughton coach Greg Burke said. I thought we worked enough on it but we didn’t move the ball when we needed to. You’ve got to move the ball there. At 7-7, pretty good half, I thought we played well the first half. Those two were killers.”
Attleboro’s defense was fired up. Nathan Lally broke up a pass and the combination of Casey Victorio and Michael McGowan forced an errant throw on third down. The offense finally got back onto the field and promptly went to work. Harvie went deep to Brody McKenna for 33 yards to the Stoughton 37. Four plays later, Harvie went long again, for 26 yards and a score to Pantages.
Down 28-7, Stoughton needed a spark and Huynh tried to provide it with a 66-yard kickoff return all the way to the Attleboro 23. Two plays later, Daughtry eluded the pass rush and rolled to his right. Under pressure, he flung a pass to the end zone where Victor Belan made a nice play to haul it in for the 22-yard TD. The extra point was blocked.
The Bombardiers were clicking on all cylinders by this point. Rivera went for 12 yards on three carries to get a first down and then Harvie let it go downfield again. He found Cole McKenna on the sideline. The senior pulled it in and then pulled free of the attempted tackle for a 46-yard TD and a 35-13 lead.
“We had a lot of kids out but other kids stepped up,” Winters said. Attleboro was missing playmakers Anthony Salviati and Ayden Ramirez. “Other phases of the game helped us out and got us rolling a little bit. Coach Burke did a great job being able to take away our run game and we were able to hit some big passes. Matt Harvie reads the field well and we have a lot of weapons.”
McKenna was having himself a day and he picked off a Daughtry pass on the opening play of the fourth quarter, returning it to the 22. Three plays later, on third and six, Harvie lofted a pass to the back of the end zone. At first it appeared to be headed for Spencer Sherck, but Pantages was also in the area and he ended up coming out with the ball and the 18-yard TD. Josue Salguero made his sixth extra point of the night and it was 42-13.
Stoughton made sure to not go quietly. Huynh had another great kickoff return. He went 47 yards to give the Black Knights the ball at the Attleboro 40. On third and 11, Daughtry hit Huynh on a wheel route down the far sideline for a 41-yard score. The conversion attempt failed.
“I thought we played pretty well for a half, but halves don’t win football games,” Burke said. “We just didn’t get it done. They did what they had to do and special teams was everything.”
Asked if this win would help restore the team’s confidence after back-to-back, hard-fought losses to Milford and King Philip, Winters replied, “You feel good that you played hard and you competed with those top-notch teams, but by the same token this is nice to learn how to win again. We’ve got to take what we learned from the two losses because Franklin’s next.”
Attleboro (4-2) will return to league play next week with a trip to Pisini Field to face defending division champ Franklin. Stoughton (2-4) will be home next week for another non-league game against Newton North.