NEEDHAM – The oldest public highschool soccer rivalry by no means disappoints.
Wellesley almost gave up a 21-point lead within the fourth quarter, however the Raiders’ protection made simply sufficient performs to safe their fourth consecutive Frederick J. Gorman Centennial Trophy.
Darren Jimenez made a crucial interception with simply over two minutes left within the sport, and Wellesley held on to beat the Needham Rockets 24-17 on Thanksgiving at Memorial Park.
Wellesley (8-3) gained the one hundred and thirty fifth version of the rivalry and leads the general sequence 66-60-9.
“Any time you get a win against Needham is a good day,” stated Wellesley coach Jesse Davis. “That is a well-coached, very good football team. We bent, but we didn’t break.”
Needham (5-6) got here inside 4 factors of tying the sport on Dante Varano’s 30-yard subject aim on the finish of the third quarter, however Eddie Webb answered with a 32-yarder for Wellesley on the subsequent drive to go up 24-17. The Raiders wouldn’t rating once more, counting on their protection to halt three Rockets possessions over the ultimate 7:32 of the sport.
Grant Moffitt’s third sack of the sport helped drive a four-and-out on Needham’s subsequent possession. Jimenez then stepped in entrance of a Ben Chapman go for the interception with 2:08 left within the sport.
Needham’s protection introduced down senior co-captain Vincent Ferrara on fourth right down to get yet one more possession from the Rockets’ 16-yard line with 31 seconds left. But Jakob Parker, one other Wellesley senior co-captain, broke via the offensive line to strip Chapman on the subsequent play, forcing the Rockets to take a five-yard loss that ended any probability of a last-second landing.
“So proud of our boys for coming out here and fighting,” stated Parker, who completed with one sack and two tackles for loss. “We brought the pressure to the quarterback, which gave Darren, my middle linebacker buddy, the opportunity to get the pick.”
Parker’s 1-yard landing run gave Wellesley the 7-0 lead with 3:14 left within the first quarter, and Ferrara made it 21-0 on a landing run after which 20-yard go to Tyler Yen. Ferrara completed 18-27 for 160 yards and a landing, with Yen catching 5 passes for 52 yards.
Chapman and the Rockets received again into the sport with a 17-play, 80-yard drive that ended with him working in a 1-yard rating proper earlier than halftime. Chapman accomplished eight passes for 130 yards, together with a 9-yard scoring strike to brother Spencer to get inside 21-14 with 2:57 left within the third.
Both of Needham’s landing drives relied on fourth-down conversions. Chapman, a senior co-captain, transformed 4 instances on fourth down, every requiring a completion of not less than eight yards.
“Ben is the consummate football player,” stated Needham coach Doug Kopcso. “He understands how the game is played. He never gets bothered no matter the situation, so he’s just been such a tremendous leader for us.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com