In the 71st all-time assembly and 63rd round Thanksgiving, King Philip used a fiery first half to emerge with a 35-0 victory over Franklin at Fenway Park.
The recreation wasn’t nearly city pleasure, celebrating the vacation or taking within the legendary venue. King Philip secured the Hockomock League title with the victory, one thing a loss towards Franklin final season stored them from a 12 months in the past.
“It’s awesome,” mentioned King Philip coach Brian Lee, who earned his one hundred and fiftieth profession win within the course of. “And to do it here, 150, it’s pretty crazy. It doesn’t seem like I have been doing it that long.”
It was additionally the ultimate take a look at earlier than the Warriors’ Div. 2 state championship matchup towards Marshfield, and the explosive efficiency has the group wanting poised for a push.
The Warriors began with the ball, however the Panthers protection put up a tricky defensive stand. This momentum wouldn’t final for lengthy, nevertheless, as King Philip would power a fumble on Franklin’s first offensive play.
Immediately after taking on, Warriors operating again Andrew LaPlante broke free for a 31-yard landing run, giving King Philip a fast 6-0 lead.
“We just tried to jump on them quick and move along,” Lee mentioned. “It was a great start; I was very proud of them.”
After the Panthers obtained two first downs on the following drive, Warriors defensive again Brandon Nicastro snagged an interception and gave King Philip the ball on the Panther 35. Once once more, solely a single play was wanted as quarterback Tommy McLeish threw a deep ball to Mason Campbell that was caught ultimately zone.
“They’ve been doing that for us all year,” McLeish mentioned. “They just go get a stop and then all we have to do is move the ball half of the field. It’s really nice when they help you like that.”
The groups would commerce possessions till the later portion of the second quarter when LaPlante barreled by from 5 yards out to increase the result in 21-0. On the following kickoff, the Warriors pressured one other turnover and junior Andrew Bowen would take it 40 yards to the top zone.
“A little scoop and score,” Lee mentioned. “The rip by Bowen and he’s off. He almost fell over, he was super excited. It was awesome and he will be reliving that memory for a long time.”
This would spherical out the half, however the Warriors shortly marched down as soon as once more within the third quarter, ending with a 12-yard reference to Daniel Silveira. That can be the extent of scoring and McLeish, who was named the sport’s MVP, mentioned getting the victory for his coach was the spotlight.
“Being able to help him out and get that for him and get the Hock title and bring that trophy back here, that’s awesome,” McLeish mentioned. “He deserves every one of them, so it was great to have that tonight.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com