If they could just erase the last five or six minutes of the game, the Blue Hills football team would have a truckload of good memories from its Div. 4 Super Bowl matchup with Shawsheen on Saturday morning at Curry College.
But as it was, horrid field position and a spate of turnovers in the last few minutes saw the Warriors spiral down to defeat, 20-6.
For the first three periods, the game had been a splendid battle between two of the state’s best rushing offenses. Blue Hills’ super-sophomore Vincent Burton gained 131 yards on 22 carries, while the Rams had their own running star in junior Andrew Dascoli, who gained 101 yards on 17 rushes.
The game could not have been any more even than when Blue Hills capped off a 15-play march, which was mostly Burton, by having junior running back Isaiah Teixiera take a pitchout 2 yards around left end for the tying score with only 55 seconds left in the third period. Better yet, that drive had begun when the Warriors stifled a Rams march on the Blue Hills 20-yard line when defensive end Brian Onyechefule picked off a Shawsheen pass.
But the momentum shifted when a subsequent Rams drive edged over midfield, and a Devin Connearney punt rolled out of bounds on the Blue Hills 7. Three disastrous plays later, Blue Hills had to punt from the 1-yard line, and Shawsheen had a short field for its next drive. Two plays later, Rams back Steven Reynolds swept the right side for a 25-yard touchdown with 4:57 remaining to play.
That 13-6 margin was not insurmountable, as Warriors quarterback John Curran proved when he spotted a wide-open Andrew Parks 30 yards downfield on the next series. But Curran’s pass floated a bit, Parks had to reach back for it, and the ball fell harmlessly to the turf. Three plays later, Curran tried to set up a screen pass to the left side but was engulfed in pass-rushers. Curran’s desperation heave was intercepted by Rams defensive back Matthew Costello, who had 28 yards of wide-open turf to the end zone. The Warriors didn’t quit even then, but two more drives ended in two more Ram interceptions.
“These kids didn’t quit, not once all year,” said Blue Hills coach Ed Catabia. “We knew Shawsheen was a very good team, but both teams played a good game today. Shawsheen is quite a bit bigger than us, although we are quicker. Over the course of the game, that size wears you down, and I think that was the difference, especially with our defense. This is a great group of kids.”
It may be difficult to look beyond those last few minutes of miscues and appreciate the journey the Warriors took this season, but a few seniors were trying.
“It definitely means a lot, the season we had and how we got here,” said senior tackle Jamarr Goff. “Truthfully, I cannot tell you we came in this year expecting to get this far. The key was playing as a team instead of just as individuals. Most of this team is juniors and sophomores, and they have a great chance of making it back here next year. I’m a little envious of that.”
The game could not have started better for Blue Hills as Burton ripped off gains of 34 and 15 yards on the Warriors’ first series, bringing the ball to the Rams’ 24 before running out of downs. The next Warriors series got to the Rams’ 25 before a fourth-down play came up inches short, but the Blue Hills offense was firing on all cylinders.
Shawsheen got to the Blue Hills 27 in the second period before a sack of Rams quarterback Ryan Woolaver by junior Nick Catrambone ended the drive. Yet another Warriors march got down to the red zone before a fourth-down Curran pass was batted away by the huge Rams line.
The Rams’ first scoring drive seemed to sputter out when a sack by Malcolm Asomugha left them seemingly in fourth-and-13 from their own 17-yard line, but a face mask penalty on another pass-rusher changed everything. Given a first down at the 40, Woolaver hit two passes to key the drive before scrambling 30 yards on a draw play for the first Rams TD.
But it was a costly score, as Woolaver had been sandwiched by two defenders as he crossed the goal-line and had to spend several minutes on the turf clearing the cobwebs.
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