Defense takes control for NA

CANTON — North Attleboro coach Don Johnson waited all season for the Red Rocketeers defense to come through with a gamealtering play.

That anticipation grew late into the fourth quarter last night when North Attleboro’s secondary had a beat on a couple of Canton passes but couldn’t secure the interception.

But Omar Jasseh didn’t miss his opportunity, picking off a pass in the end zone with 1:04 left to secure a 14-10 Hockomock League win for North Attleboro and a share of the Davenport Division title with Canton.

“We’ve been hanging in and hanging in and relying on our offense to chew up the clock,” Johnson said, “but tonight we needed our defense to step up and we finally got that big play.”

Trailing 10-7 late in the third quarter, North Attleboro (5-2) received a big boost from Brendan McHugh. McHugh (13 carries, 99 yards) took a jet sweep before cutting back up the middle and bolting past Canton’s defense for a 54-yard touchdown and a 14-10 lead.

North Attleboro’s defense stepped up by forcing two fourthquarter punts, but was called upon again when Canton (6-1) got the ball back at its 48 with 3:28 left. Quarterback Johnny Hagan flirted with danger with a couple near interceptions on the final drive, but also made two big throws on third down to move the ball to North Attleboro’s 18.

Canton then took a shot at the end zone, but the 6-foot-4 Jasseh highpointed the ball to secure the interception and divisional hardware for the Red Rocketeers for the fourth straight year.

“We just come in and from the start of the year play as hard as we can, practice as hard as we can,” said McHugh. “This is where it pays off.”

North Attleboro’s offense was held in check after its opening drive covered 89 yards and ended with Nick Raneri’s 4-yard touchdown run.

Canton answered with 10 second-quarter points, including a 5-yard touchdown run by Gersom Rivera, but North Attleboro won the battle of defenses in the second half.