DeMattio powers North Attleboro past Canton

CANTON — In some ways, in a long offseason for everyone in Massachusetts, it maybe felt a little bit longer in North Attleboro, as the football team was coming off its first losing season in 27 years.

For Tyler DeMattio, it was an excruciating wait to put it behind himself and the rest of his teammates.

“We definitely (heard about it from the people in town),” DeMattio said. “It was tough for us because our reputation at North Attleboro is to win. To not do that for our town, it was tough for me because I was the quarterback of the team. So we all took that under our belts and we went into the offseason and knew we weren’t going to let that happen again. We did everything we could to work hard, and it paid off.”

It sure did, and the junior led the way in the Red Rocketeers’ 41-13 rout of host Canton on Saturday. DeMattio rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries, and completed 8-of12 passes for 125 yards and another score. He also booted four extra points.

“He has (played a lot of football at North),” North coach Don Johnson said of DeMattio, who started his first game as a freshman on Thanksgiving in 2018. “He’s a hard-nosed, tough kid who has had to learn how to play the position. If it was up to him, he would run the ball every single down and just lower his shoulder and run through people. What he has had to do is learn how to play quarterback and read coverages, when to throw it and when to dump it and all that stuff. He just gets better at that every year, the rest of it.”

But perhaps just as impressive for North (1-0) was the balance it showed on offense, as other ball-carriers got involved. Jacob Silva rushed for 106 yards and a 21-yard score on just six carries, and Jared Penta added 65 yards on just three rushes. Matt Penta caught a 19-yard touchdown, and the defense flowed to the ball well all game and allowed just 10 yards of Canton offense in the first half as the Red Rocketeers built a 21-0 edge at the break.

Anthony Botelho and Cam Sanchez rushed for touchdowns in the second half for Canton (0-1), but the outcome was never truly in doubt.

“He’s athletic. He’s tough. He’s very, very good,” firstyear Canton coach Anthony Fallon said of DeMattio. “He’s hard to handle, and he’s got another year with them, too. He’s a good ballplayer, for sure.”