Bucciaglia, SJS take shootout
ST. JOHN’S (S) 35 NORTH ATTLEBORO 33
FOXBORO — St. John’s Shrewsbury and North Attleboro put on a highscoring display last night — and provided a tough act to follow for the other seven Super Bowl games at Gillette Stadium.
The Pioneers edged the Red Rocketeers, 35-33, in the Division 3 championship in a battle of prolific offenses and stellar quarterbacks.
St. John’s’ Steven Bucciaglia finished 17-of-22 for 224 yards and three touchdowns, while his NA counterpart, UMass-Amherst commit Chad Peterson, finished 23-of-30 for 218 yards and two scores.
“We knew they were gonna score points,” St. John’s coach John Andreoli said of North Attleboro. “We just had to make sure we got one stop and score somewhere along the line, and particularly in the start of the second half when they had two possessions to close the first (half) and start the second.”
The high-octane offenses were revving from the opening kickoff, as the game’s first five consecutive possessions resulted in touchdowns.
It was not until the final North Attleboro possession of the first half, and then again in the opening drive of the second, that either defense made a stop.
St. John’s (13-0) took a 20-14 lead into halftime and added some breathing room after forcing North Attleboro (11-2) to punt to start the second half.
Bucciaglia hit Eamon Dennis on a 10-yard scoring pass and, after a Bucciaglia two-point conversion run, the Pioneers had a 28-14 edge.
North Attleboro’s Brendan McHugh answered with a 3-yard scoring run to make it a 28-20 game and set up the game’s most electrifying play.
From the SJS 26, Bucciaglia stepped up to avoid the pass rush and hit John Brunelle in stride for a 74yard connection at the end of the third quarter for a key score and 35-20 advantage.
“They were in zero coverage, man-to-man and sent the blitz. Our receivers are so knowledgeable that they know what to run and he got wide-open — that was all Jay,” Bucciaglia said.
But the Red Rocketeers refused to fold.
They went to their bag of tricks with 6:38 remaining as Peterson pitched to halfback Nicholas Raneri, who lofted an 18-yard touchdown pass to McHugh.
Then Peterson logged his second passing touchdown when he hit senior Nathan Pearce to trim the lead to 35-33 with just 24 seconds left.
North Attleboro’s onside kick attempt failed and Bucciaglia took a knee to seal the Div. 3 championship.
“We got a great scout team, a great coaching staff, and a tremendous group of seniors that earned the championship from stem to stern. I’m really proud of this group of guys who will go on to do great things,” said a Gatorade-drenched Andreoli.