ATTLEBORO, Mass. – On a night in which the Davenport Division would turn the league on its head, the Attleboro Bombardiers used two second half touchdown passes from Tim Walsh and several big defensive stands to hold on for a 26-20 victory over the visiting Canton Bulldogs.
Attleboro coach Kevin Deschenes spoke after the game about the plan for the second half being to grind out yards and time of possession, but he recognized the need to keep teams honest with the passing game.
“We have to balance it with what you saw tonight and Timmy was able to get a couple passes. Timmy got the protection he needed and our guys got open. Some of the passes he threw tonight picked up some important yards for us.”
With the game tied at 14, the Bombardiers took the opening drive of the second half deep into Canton territory on a 37-yard completion from Walsh, the junior quarterback, to senior wideout Cotey Martinez. The drive stalled, but on fourth down from the Canton 10-yard line, Walsh hooked up with Martinez for the go ahead score.
Following a Bulldogs punt, Attleboro (4-0) found the end zone again when Walsh hung in the pocket to find tight end Luke Morrison wide open for a 36-yard touchdown. A failed two-point conversion kept Canton within 12 points at 26-14. Walsh would finish 4-10 for 133 yards and two touchdowns.
Canton (1-2) would not go away. Following a poor Attleboro punt, Canton took over at the 20-yard line. The Bulldogs capitalized on the short field when captain Elias Camacho forced his way in from three yards out.
Attleboro forced a Flavin fumble with just under two minutes remaining and a chance to run out the clock. After three short runs, the Bombardiers lined up to punt only to see a low snap skip past the punter and be downed back at the 25-yard line. Canton had 19.2 seconds to try and tie the game, but great pressure from the Attleboro defensive line forced an intentional grounding by Flavin that pushed the Bulldogs back to the 42. Sean Curran would intercept the final pass well short of the end zone to preserve the win.
Deschenes spoke in glowing terms about the defensive effort that his team produced in the victory, “The defense played extremely well tonight. One thing that the kids showed tonight was a lot of heart. We came up with the plays when we had to come up with them.”
Attleboro opened the scoring on a 30-yard touchdown run by Malique Clark, but the running back fumbled on the next possession at his own 4-yard line. Canton fullback Shane Nordgren scored to bring them back within one. On the next possession it was tailback Dexter Green (18 carries, 90 yards) who steamrolled tacklers on his way to a 54-yard score.
The Bombardiers responded on the very next possession. Walsh hit Clark for a 50-yard pass play that put the ball inside the Canton 5. After a false start penalty, Clark (25 carries, 141 yards, and 1 reception for 50 yds.) took a toss sweep into the end zone for his second score of the day and 8th of the season.
Canton will host Sharon next week in the first divisional game of the season for both teams. Attleboro will start a three-game road trip at Alumni Field against the Mansfield Hornets, who were beaten by Stoughton in the HockomockSports.com Game of the Week.