The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 78

The Boston Globe Schools FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2008 Thanksgiving Football Mansfield clamps down on Foxboro C16 By Shawn Medeiros GLOBE CORRESPONDENT MANSFIELD A fumble on the open- Ul ine kickoff was the miss on his way to the end zone. Donny Washburn connected on the extra point, giving Mansfield the only points it needed. "We have been great all year on defense," said Mansfield coach Mike Redding. "We had only given up 60 points all year. It has been our bread and butter." In the second quarter, Foxboro (3-8) was dealt a blow when Devin Cruz sacked Warriors quarterback Brian Swanton for a 6-yard loss.

Swanton did not return, making it easier for Mansfield to focus on stopping the run. "You hate to see it, a kid get hurt as a senior in his final game," said Redding. "I hope he is all right." With Swanton sidelined, the Warriors adapted their offense, going to the Miami Dolphins' "Wildcat" formation. Luke Soccorso led the Warriors in rushing out of the Wildcat with 71 yards. "The Wildcat was a good changeup, and they caught us off-guard with it," said Redding.

Doherty notched his second score with 2:03 left in the half on a 20-yard scamper. Daniel Galvin forced a fumble on Foxboro's ensuing drive, and Kevin Rogers recovered on the Warrior's 35-yard line, setting up Mansfield's third score before the end of the half. With 34 seconds remaining, quarterback Jeff Mallett lofted a perfect pass over a defender to tight end Andrew Kelley for a 27-yard hookup. Defensively, Mansfield held the Warriors to 59 total yards (all rushing) and three first downs in the first half. Matt Zonghetti recovered a fumble in the end zone for the Hornets in the third quarter, as Chris Walker coughed up the ball just before he crossed the plane.

With the win, Redding is looking for ward to a playoff matchup against Bishop Feehan. "It's going to be a great matchup between two elite teams," said Redding. "We lost a heartbreaker last year and our kids are anxious for a second chance." Redding feels the key to success against the Shamrocks will be stopping their offense. In last year's semifinals, Bishop Feehan stunned then No. 2-ranked Mansfield, 23-21, and went on to win the Division 2 Super Bowl.

"Once they get in a rhythm, they are hard to stop," said Redding. "The defense needs to stop their drives as soon as possible." ojily mistake Shawn Doherty and Mansfield made in its 28-0 win over Foxboro yesterday at Alumni Field. in the 78th meeting between the teams, Doherty rushed for 143 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns while tjie Mansfield defense recorded the school's 23d shutout in the series. Doherty opened the scoring for the Hornets (10-1) in the first quarter on a 59-yard dash, making four defenders Tigers finish withW By Michael Grossi GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Something had to give. Sharon and Oliver Ames entered their 39 th Thanksgiving meeting winless.

DIVISION 2 Oliver Ames ROUNDUP beat Sharon, 20- I on P3A i ROBERT E. KLEINTHE BOSTONGLOBE Apponequet's John Gaynor has a good head of steam as he takes off with a screen pass, but Old Rochester's Richard Meunier is in hot pursuit. Focused Apponequet reaches goal ByZachHosseini GLOBE CORRESPONDENT 19, in the final minute. Sharon jumped out to a 19-0 lead at the half behind rushing touchdowns from Jordan Aron-son and Jamie McCue. Kevin Pollard also hit Jamie Harding for a 55-yard score.

After halftime, Oliver Ames came out inspired. Michael Wright scored on a 20-yard trot and Ryan McGrath hit the extra point. In the fourth quarter, Oliver Ames's Mitchell Johnson powered home on a 1-yard score to cut the lead to 19-14. -v The Tigers had a fourth and 15 at the Sharon 30 with under a minute to play. Johnson heaved a 30-yard pass that Kyle Stedman brought down in the end zone with 35 seconds to play.

Bay State (Herget): Norwood 47, Dedham 14 In a matchup between next-door neighbors, Jorges Antoine rushed for 220 yards and five touchdowns to power Norwood. In his last game as a Mustang, Chris Colantonio added two touchdowns. Hockomock: King Philip 22, Franklin 12 Brandon Howard passed for 122 yards and, a touchdown and Chris Cacciola rushed for 110 yards and a score in the victory. Senior captain Ryan Connolly added a 39-yard jaunt for the Warriors as he amassed 100 yards. Stoughton 28, Canton 2 The Black Knights took a 40-39-4 series lead over Canton as Dan Snyder rushed for a score and threw two 2-point conversions.

Middlesex: Lexington 24, Burlington 14 Myles Adley passed for two touchdowns and Marc Patrick had a 32-yard field goal and three extra points for Lexington, Wakefield 34, Melrose 27 -Martin Hyppolite rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns for Wakefield. Melrose's Jack Pizzotti nished.for 187 yards and three scores. Winchester 34, Woburn 10 Matt Mangano and Nick Weber hooked up twice for touchdowns to lead the Sachems past Woburn. Mangano also had a rushing score. Nonleague: Belmont 44? Watertown 6 Vinny Cortina passed for 225 yards and two scores and Justin Richardson rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns to power the Marauders.

Bishop Feehan 11, Sandwich 8 Tommy Romero hit Brian Gallagher for a 25-yard score in the fourth quarter to lift Feehan. Bishop Stang 37, Bishop Connolly 8 Bishop Stang got its second win of the season behind Luiz, who passed for 92 yards and two touchdowns and had a rushing score. Somerset 47, Case 0 Jesse Perrin had three touchdown runs and Zach Zajdel had a rushing and a fumble return for a score to lead Somerset. I LAKEVILLE -I Some teams like I to take it one time, again embarking on a double-digit-play drive (11) that ended with running back Travis Lowery rumbling in for a touchdown on a 1-yard rush. Choquette's extra point made it 21-14, but Apponequet would made sure that's as close as Old Rochester would get.

A pair of rushing touchdowns from Gaynor and Joe Kaminski put the game on ice for the Lakers midway through the fourth, allowing Lomp to finally exhale as the goal was reached. Lomp now has his sights on Apponequet's playoff opponent, undefeated Dux-bury. The Green Dragons beat Division 1A Marshfield, 28-0, yesterday and will be everyone's favorite to win the Super Bowl. "For the first time this year, we're going to be an underdog," he said. "I'll relish that role." have broken the game open.

With the lifeline, Old Rochester made sure the Lakers wouldn't have it easy by responding with an 11-play drive before halftime. Old Rochester showed its patience on the 65-yard drive by twice converting on fourth down. It found the end zone on first and goal from the 9-yard line when quarterback Bryan Teefy rolled right and found tight end Sam Asci. Zach Choquette made the extra point with 43 seconds remaining in the half. The Bulldogs stalled on their opening drive of the second half, but Apponequet did not.

The Lakers went up, 21-7, thanks to another halfback-option pass. This time Bullock was the recipient in the end zone, catching an 11-yard toss from Nick Jablonski with 4:36 left in the third quarter. Old Rochester responded one more one game at a time," Lomp said. "But at the beginning of the season, our kids made the choice that the undefeated season was their goal. "There had been a lot of pressure on us and we've had a lot of close games sprinkled in there." The Lakers scored on the first drive of the game, a nine-play march highlighted by a 17-yard halfback option pass by Ben Bullock to quarterback Michael Wojtkon-ski.

Bullock would finish the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Zachary McCabe's extra point made it 7-0. The lead would swell to 14-0 late in the first quarter following 10-play drive, finished off by John Gaynor's 2-yard TD. McCabe then executed a perfect on-side kick, which was recovered by Ryan Tomlinson. But Tomlinson was flagged for offside, negating a play that could game at a time.

Apponequet. From the beginning of the season, the Lakers took the long view. Their ultimate goal, according to coach Bob Lomp, was to finish 11-0. Apponequet accomplished that goal yesterday by beating Old Rochester, 35-14, to clinch the school's first undefeated season and win the South Coast Conference title. And if the prospect of clinching a perfect season hadn't heaped enough pressure on the Lakers, the teams were playing for a berth in the Division 2A playoffs.

"Everybody says one game at a time, Wins set up Masco -Gloucester showdown and Patrick Murphy scored twice for Wareham. Non-League: Carver 29, Middleboro 7 Brandon Holbrook rushed for two scores and Mo Saddler rushed for another for Carver. Diman 33, Greater New Bedford Corey Silvia rushed for a score and had a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown in handing the Bears their eighth straight loss. East Bridgewater 35, Rockland 28 Justin DeAndrade scored four times for East Bridgewater in its first Thanksgiving game against Rockland. Andover.

However, the Chieftains found themselves trailing in the second quarter. Evan Bunker got Masco on the board with a 20-yard touchdown rush, but after a Zac Iavonella 1-yard touchdown rush, the game was tied. From that point, Masco took over. Nick Salvo booted a 43-yard field goal and Chris Splinter rushed for three scores and Masconomet won, 31-7. Now Masconomet and Gloucester will prepare for their playoff slugfest.

Cape Ann Large: Pentucket 14, Triton 7 Jor over in the second half, scoring three times to propel Quincy. Silver Lake 28, Pembroke 7 Senior captain Rob Struble made his final game memorable, rushing for 193 yards and two scores for the Lakers. Hingham 10, Scituate 6 Hingham got revenge for a 28-14 loss to Scituate earlier this year. South Coast: Seekonk 13, Dighton-Rehoboth 3 Joe Teixeira scored both touchdowns for the Warriors, one from 4 yards, the other from 61. Wareham 26, Bourne 14 Michael Hyland had a 46-yard dash dan Silva had a rushing touchdown and an interception with three minutes left to seal Pen-tucket's victory.

Northeastern Conference: Salem 34, Beverly 30 Melikke Van Alstyne capped an amazing career at Salem with one of his best performances. He rushed for 302 yards and four scores against Beverly. Winthrop 20, Revere 6 Chris Beranger scored all three of Win-throp's touchdowns, securing a winning season for the Vikings. Patriot: Quincy 27, North Quincy 17 In his final game, Tim Lewis took By Michael Grossi GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Just five days before they meet in the playoffs, Mascono-met and Gloucester had some n. business to DIVISION 2A of yes- ROUNDUP terday.

Gloucester dispatched Danvers, 37-10, with the running game powering the Fishermen. Ross Carlson had two touchdowns in the first half and another in the third. Conor Res-sel and Taylor Burbine also scored. Masconomet had a seemingly easy game against rival North.