FOXBORO — On this age of wide-open, air-it-out soccer, Xaverian proved Thursday evening at Gillette Stadium that you may nonetheless win a title with a dominant protection and a proficient operating again.
The Hawks held Needham workhorse Aidan Williams to 64 yards on 13 carries whereas their very own star within the backfield, Vincent Busa, rushed for 146 yards and a landing as Xaverian stored possession of the Agganis Trophy with a 14-7 win over the beforehand unbeaten Rockets within the Division 1 Tremendous Bowl.
“Our protection performed precisely like we requested them to: with their hair on fireplace and attacking that operating again,” Xaverian coach Al Fornaro stated. “We had been capable of get hats on him and put on him down.”
Xaverian (9-4) was capable of beat Needham at its personal sport by controlling the clock and forcing Griffin Carr to must beat them together with his arm.
The Hawks additionally used the correct arm of their quarterback, Will Wooden, to ship an consideration getting lightning bolt earlier than most followers had settled in.
Wooden went deep on Xaverian’s first offensive snap and Dave Chiavegato in stride on the 45. He shook off Steven Rocamboli’s sort out try and dashed house for an 81-yard rating and a 7-0 lead simply 3:20 in.
“That first TD was large. It gave us the momentum and made them must attempt to come again, which went in opposition to what they’d love to do,” Fornaro stated.
Needham shook off some early jitters and put collectively a 17-play drive after the landing move that consumed almost the remainder of the interval. However the march stalled on the Hawks 17 and Alex Rufo’s subject aim was blocked.
Xaverian took over at its 38 and didn’t want a lot time to double the lead early within the second quarter. Busa carried on 5 of six performs, capping the drive with a two-yard plunge for a 14-0 lead.
“Once you look toughness within the dictionary, there’s an image of Vincent proper there,” Fornaro stated. “He places each ounce of his body into it.”
The defenses took over for the remainder of the half as Williams was held to 12 yards on 9 carries.
The Rockets (11-1) received a 3 and out to start the second half. The following brief subject lastly allowed them to get on the board.
It was Williams doing the honors as he caught Carr move with nobody inside 10 yards of him for a 30-yard TD and a 14-7 margin with nonetheless 1 / 4 and a half to go.
It was nonetheless 14-7 within the fourth when Williams lastly broke an enormous run with a 51-yard acquire to the Xaverian 42. However the drive stalled and led to a turnover on downs. Needham received one final probability from its 4 with slightly below two minutes left however Bryce Todd picked off Carr on the 20, permitting the Hawks to expire the clock.
“The children did some inside looking out after we misplaced to BC Excessive and made themselves right into a aggressive workforce and look the place it received us,” Fornaro stated.
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