CANTON, Mass. - Junior Joey Girolamo had a monster second half, helping Stoughton to 28 straight points and the Black Knight defense came up with an interception in the end zone with just over a minute remaining as Stoughton downed Canton 28-20. Stoughton won it's 10th game of the season, a record number of wins in the program's history.
"We're just happy we got more than they did," said Stoughton head coach Greg Burke. "Hats off to Canton, they were tough."
The Bulldogs opened the scoring on the very first drive of the game, going five players and covering 71 yards before Sterlin Gavin scored on a 16-yard touchdown run. That run and extra point from Thomas Monagle proved to be the only scoring of the first half.
Stoughton started the second half with a huge 24-yard run from Girolamo that set the tone. Four plays later, senior Lennox Green took the handoff to the left before cutting back across the field and outrunning Canton defenders for a 40-yard touchdown. Frank Girolamo's extra point tied the game 7-7 with 9 minutes left in the third quarter.
After both team's traded punts, Canton turned the ball over on downs at the Stoughton 35-yard line and the Black Knights made quick work of the long field. Girolamo accounted for 43 of the 65 yards, rushing twice - his second one being a 28-yard touchdown run to give the Black Knights a 14-7 lead.
On the ensuing kick off, Stoughton gambled with an onside kick and it paid off as they were able to recover and on just their second play, Girolamo bounced it outside to the left and up the sideline for a 37-yard touchdown to make it 21-7 in just 16 seconds of game time.
"We had to right at them inside," Burke said of what they changed at halftime. We just had to go inside game with the trap and belly play with Joe Girolamo. That was the key - he had a lot of yards."
Canton went three and out on their next drive and were forced to punt and Stoughton continued their run game onslaught. Jovani Pires had four carries for 59 yards on the next drive - one for 45 yards that set up his 2-yard touchdown run to make it 28-7 with 7:42 left in the game.
But the Bulldogs didn't give up, taking the ensuring drive 83 yards on 11 plays, capped off with a 5-yard touchdown run by junior Kevin Wing. The Bulldogs recovered their onside kick attempt and just three plays later, junior quarterback Brian Hagan connected with junior Derrick Harris on a seam route for a 30-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was wide as Stoughton's lead was cut to 28-20 with 3:16 left in the game.
Canton tried another onside kick and looked to come away with the ball at the bottom of the pile but a flag was thrown for illegal touching, giving the ball to Stoughton. Two plays in though, Stoughton fumbled and Canton took control. The Bulldogs marched down the field behind two terrific grabs from Harris along the sideline - one just getting his feet in bounds, the other while falling backwards. But on 2nd and 6 from the Stoughton 9 yard line, Pires was able to pick Hagan off in the end zone to end it.
The Black Knights finished the season 10-2 while Canton finished 3-8, but the future looks bright for Canton, who returns Hagan, Wing, Harris, and defensive tackle Wavol Prentice amongst others.
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.