Mashpee rides Ford to win over Abington
Both Mashpee and Abington came into last night’s big South Shore League Tobin Division battle undefeated, but it was Mashpee still holding onto the unblemished record in the end.
The Falcons (4-0), now winners of 24 straight, rallied to edge host Abington, 21-20, in the final minutes. With 1:35 left, Devaun Ford scored his third touchdown of the night with a 7-yard run up the middle to tie things 20-20. Xavier Gonsalves buried the extra point for the victory.
Ford was sensational with 20 carries for 150 yards and the three scores, plus two key interceptions.
“(Xavier) said ‘I got you, just run through the hole’ — so I followed him, and it’s pretty easy when you have X blocking for you,” said Ford. “We had some young guys step up as Brian Hendricks got thrown in the middle of the week to play corner and we just came in super-focused. We knew it was going to be a tough one.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Mashpee put together an 11-play march that ended when Ford hauled in a pass from Ian Miller on a fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line. The two-point conversion pass to Devon Hughes would prove crucial as Mashpee took an 8-0 lead.
But Abington (3-1) answered on its next series as Will Klein stutter-stepped his way to a 28-yard touchdown run to get the Green Wave within two with 3:47 left in the first half.
Abington was poised to take after a blocked punt set up the Green Wave at the Falcons’ 34, but Ford pulled down his first interception in the back of the end zone, and Mashpee held onto the 8-6 halftime lead.
“(Ford’s) a good player. That’s his forte and that’s just the way it was,” said longtime Abington coach Jim Kelliher. “We had some chances that I think we should have taken care of a bit and the biggest ones, I’ll tell you right now, were the simple ones — two missed extra points. It changes the complexion late in the third and fourth quarter on what (Mashpee) are going to do.”
Colin Leary had a 61yard touchdown run to give Abington its first lead at 128, but missed the extra point with 3:58 left in the third quarter.
On the next series, Ford rattled off a 56-yard run to get Mashpee down to the Falcons’ 26. Four plays later, Ford hauled in a 33-yard pass from Miller in triple coverage down to the 1, and Ford finished it from there.
Back came Abington. After a 50-yard kickoff return from Klein, Gabe Spry finished off an eight-play drive with a 5-yard run. Spry hauled in the two-point conversion pass from Christian Labossier and Abington had a 20-14 lead with 5:42 to go.
Time was on Ford’s side, as he carried the ball eight out of the nine plays for 49 of his 150 yards in the final drive to finish the come-from-behind win for Mashpee.
Elsewhere in the South Shore League, Isaiah Cobbs scored twice and added a two-point conversion as Middleboro (2-2) held off Rockland, 14-12.
Jacob Perez caught a touchdown pass and also returned a kick 89 yards for a score as BC High (2-2) defeated Brockton, 21-13.
In a Bay State Carey battle, Shiloh White racked up 270 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries for Wellesley (4-1) in a 27-7 victory over Newton North . . . . Sophomore William Lederman finished with 179 total yards and two scores as Natick (2-2) took down Braintree, 21-7. Senior captain Colin Ghilani had an interception and a fumble recovery for the Redhawks.
Khyle Pena had a pair of TD passes, helping Burlington (3-1) to a 20-0 shutout of Watertown in the Middlesex Freedom . ... Christos Argyropoulos finished the night with two rushing touchdowns, leading Stoneham (4-0) to a 36-0 victory over Wakefield . ... Kemar Bynoe drilled the game-winning field goal with five seconds left to propel Melrose (3-1) past Wilmington, 17-14.
Anthony Bianchi threw for 200 yards and three TDs, while rushing for 140 yards and three more scores as Lexington (2-2) handed Winchester its first loss, 42-28, in the Middlesex Liberty.
In the Dual County Small, Mason Bolivar completed 14of-19 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown, while adding two rushing scores in a 35-0 victory for Wayland (4-1) over Concord-Carlisle.
William O’Leary ran for two scores as North Reading (3-1) beat Triton, 42-14, in the Cape Ann Kinney.
Matt Rubino ran for two TDs, threw for a third and chipped in with 12 tackles as Austin Prep (2-2) defeated Lowell Catholic, 34-12, in the Catholic Central Small.
Matt McCarthy broke off a 54-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and Danvers (4-0) never looked back as it blanked Malden, 35-0, in the Northeastern Conference Tier 1.
Johnell Fillippini ran for three scores as Plymouth North (3-1) defeated Quincy, 42-0, in the Patriot Keenan.
Aidan Sullivan threw four touchdowns, including two apiece to Nathan Gould and Max Roche, in a 41-0 victory for Scituate (3-1) over Patriot Fisher opponent North Quincy.
In the Tri-Valley Small, tailback Nick Sheehan found paydirt three times in the second half to lead Medway (3-1) to a 29-21 comeback win over Dedham.
Lazarus McBean scored the game’s only touchdown on a 6-yard run in the first quarter as West Roxbury (2-2) edged Latin Academy, 6-0, in Boston North action. Brandel Johnson had four sacks and a fumble recovery, while teammate Talif Stewart added three interceptions for the Raiders . . . . Marcus Gonzalez rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns to lead TechBoston (1-3) to a 30-6 win over Brighton . . . . Hector Martinez hauled in a touchdown pass and rushed 45 yards for the game-winning score in the fourth, leading East Boston (2-2) to a 20-12 victory over O’Bryant (2-2).
Takahri Hobbs had 12 carries for 92 yards and a pair of scores as Boston English (40) cruised to a 28-0 victory against South Boston in the Boston City League South. . . . Akari Cummings amassed 125 yards and two touchdown on 10 carries as Burke (1-2) snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 22-10 victory over Madison Park.
Ngor Manyang and Darion Johanson combined to rush for over 160 yards and three scores to give Minuteman (1-2) a 28-8 nonleague win over Charlestown . . . . Behind touchdown runs from Tucker Fulton (25 yards) and Turner Martell (75 yards), Cohasset (4-0) continued its undefeated start with a 14-0 win over Atlantis Charter.
Walter Morales punched in a pair of touchdowns on the ground as St. Bernard’s (4-0) remained undefeated with a 40-13 win over Archbishop Williams.
Jon Murphy ran for three touchdowns and Eric Bua caught four passes for 120 yards as Revere (2-2) defeated Peabody, 27-25, in a Northeastern Conference crossover game.