Stoneham knocks off second-seeded Abington on road
ABINGTON >> On a frigid November night, No. 15 Stoneham rallied after three first-half fumbles to pull off a 22-14 upset over No. 2 Abington in the first round of the MIAA Division 6 football tournament.
Early in the season, this would have seemed unlikely at the very least. The Spartans started out 0-4 and had to win the final four contests of the season just to reach the tournament. Head coach Bob Almeida said that the improvement the team has shown since the early struggles is night and day.
“The things that we weren’t able to do earlier in the year we are able to do now,” Almeida said.
Stoneham stormed down the field via the rushing attack and put a quick six points on the board. The Green Wave struggled on the next drive and punted back to the Spartans but forced a fumble just plays later.
Abington would have more success this time, pushing down the field before a 29-yard connection from Michael Reilly and A.J. Nash would even the score. Stoneham would fumble the ball again early on the next drive, and Reilly connected with Kingston Maxwell for a go-ahead score that put the Green Wave up 14-6.
On the next drive for Stoneham, Abington would force another fumble and Almeida said the lack of ball security was something his team doesn’t normally fall victim to.
“We obviously need to hang onto the football better, that was uncharacteristic of us,” Almeida said. “They didn’t stop us, we just stopped ourselves three times.”
Abington began a drive but Ivan Kerrigan intercepted Reilly to shift momentum back towards the Spartans. This would lead to a buzzer-beater rushing touchdown from Kevin Gilmartin, and a successful two-point conversion knotted the game at 14 at the half.
Abington would start with the ball in the second half, but Stoneham would force a fumble to gain possession around midfield. Spartans quarterback Matthew Tran said that it was just the spark the team needed.
“I went into the huddle and I told them … ‘we have got to build off that turnover, we’re not going to settle with that. We have got to score right here.’ And we did and that turned the momentum,” Tran said.
Running back Sean Kilty would burst out soon after to bring the team to the red zone and would eventually cap off the drive with a 15yard run and a successful two-point conversion.
Abington would have two more strong drives, but the Spartans were able to hold off the threat each time. Kilty said the team’s ability to hold and capitalize on momentum is exactly why they emerged victorious.
“As soon as you make that big play it switches like that,” Kilty said. “Football is such a game where you could be winning and then one play later you are down. We just stayed together, stuck as a family and now we are winners.”