Winthrop rumbles to upset of Framingham
WINTHROP — It wasn’t quite a David vs. Goliath moment, or at least it didn’t look that way in the slightest with how dominantly Winthrop took care of business Thursday night.
Playing Div. 1 power Framingham for the first time in over 30 years by way of a last-minute scheduling, the Div. 6 Vikings (3-0) used a powerful defensive effort and Bobby Hubert’s monstrous game on the ground to dismantle the Flyers (2-1) in an upset, 22-6, despite the schools’ size disparity.
Framingham got on the board early to mark Winthrop’s first points allowed all year, but the Vikings responded with a three-interception performance that also featured a pick-six to all but put the nail in the coffin late.
Hubert seemingly took care of whatever else was needed with 152 rushing yards and a TD, rumbling his way over the Flyers to create an equally powerful message to his brute strength: Winthrop is a legitimate force.
“We don’t believe in all that (David vs. Goliath) stuff,” said head coach Jon Cadigan. “This is nothing new to us in terms of playing the big boys . ... I’m proud of our guys.”
The Flyers started off in a way most would expect coming off a win over Wellesley, capitalizing on a methodical opening drive with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Cody Coleman. Yet, that’s all the Winthrop defense would allow.
After the Vikings responded with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Mike Chaves to Bryan Conceicao two plays later on a trick play off a screen pass, the defense tightened up and crippled Framingham in any way it could up front.
With quick attention to the inside running game, Winthrop denied every attempt from the Flyers, allowing just 17 yards from scrimmage in between the opening drive and the half.
That included a turnover on downs at the Framingham 49-yard-line near the end of the first quarter, which eventually led to a 9-yard TD rush from Hubert for a 14-6 lead.
What followed was a Ryan Hovermale interception right out of the half, a 17-yard pick-six from Chaves on a deflected pass midway through the third quarter for a two-score lead, and one last deflected pass interception in the fourth quarter from Chris Ferrara to take away whatever sting the Flyers had left following a few promising drives.
“I’m proud of our defense,” Cadigan said. “The first two games we had two shutouts and we were patting ourselves on the back, but that’s a quality offense, a quality team. We did a nice job defensively, and it was a team effort.”
Winthrop’s effective run game killed an enormous amount of clock, with Hubert answering the call by breaking tackles left and right for huge gains all night.
He finished with seven carries of at least 10 yards, bruising his way past a strong Flyers’ front line.