Late score lifts Assabet to title
For the first time since 2006, Assabet Valley has won a Vocational Bowl game.
It took until the fourth quarter, but Assabet took control on a late touchdown to take down Shawsheen Tech, 28-20, in the Large School Voke Bowl last night at Cassidy Field in Billerica.
“(The players) didn’t quit,” said Assabet coach Ken Stukonis. “They could’ve easily. They fought and battled. They fought their way back against a really good program in Shawsheen.”
After trading possessions in the third quarter, Assabet (9-4) got the ball back with 9:41 left to play. Their running game took over.
On the game-winning drive, the Aztecs ran 12of-13 plays on the ground, moving 60 yards to the end zone — the last a 1-yard run by senior Justin Phillips with 2:11 left on the clock.
“We felt that he was the best option to carry the load,” Stukonis said of Phillips, who amassed 114 yards from scrimmage (71 rushing, 43 receiving) and two touchdowns, and threw for another. “He’s a senior. He stepped up and made it happen.”
An interception by Ryan Kirsch sealed the win with a little over a minute to go.
Phillips returned the game’s opening kickoff 77 yards, and he finished the short march with a 2-yard run for a quick 6-0 lead.
Mike Diplacido had an 8-yard TD run on the next drive to give Assabet a 14-0 lead.
Shawsheen Tech (8-5) did not go away. Senior quarterback Cody Sughrue had an 8-yard run, and ran for two points. Phillips responded with a 1-yard TD toss to Ryan Taylor to give Assabet a 20-8 lead.
But Sughrue erased that deficit before halftime. He found Josiah Martinez for a 38-yard catch-and-run touchdown. With 1:35 left in the half, he hit junior Ryan Quinones for a 25yard score to tie it up at 20-20.
Lynn Tech 50, Nashoba Tech 22 — Steffan Gravely had 23 carries for 213 yards and four touchdowns to run into fourth place alltime among Massachusetts rushers, powering the Tigers (11-2) over the Vikings (8-5) in the Small School Voke Bowl in Westford.
Gravely finished his career with 5,903 yards — passing former Dartmouth star Jordan Todman, who currently plays for the Houston Texans, for fourth place in state history.
“It will forever be in my mind,” Gravely said. “I will never forget this moment. I will never forget all the hard work the seniors put in. It’s a great feeling.”
Behind Gravely and Keoni Gaskin, Lynn Tech broke out to a 30-0 lead with 5:20 left in the half. But the Vikings began to chip away, as senior quarterback Vinney Eramo scampered for a 14-yard touchdown just before the break. He followed with back-to-back touchdown rushes, of 8 yards and 34 yards, to bring the Vikings within 30-22 early in the third quarter.
But with Eramo marching Nashoba Tech into the red zone with 6:11 left in the third, Gaskin flipped the game’s momentum with a memorable interception, broke several tackles and sped 75 yards to dive into the end zone to give Lynn Tech a 36-22 lead.
“Just tried to run,” Gaskin said. “Just started running. I just knew that I had to make a game-changing play. All that was going through my mind was: ‘Score, score, score! Cut back if I have to.’ Felt my hamstring pulling a little bit, so I knew I just had to keep on going, before I just gave out.”
Gravely went on to score two more touchdowns to cap his career in winning fashion, as Lynn Tech won its third Voke Bowl in school history, the first since 2011.