ATTLEBORO, Mass - Attleboro scored on its first and last possession of the game. In between, North Attleboro scored six touchdowns on six drives and walked away from the 92nd annual Thanksgiving Day meeting between the two teams with a 38-14 victory at Tozier-Cassidy Field.
Senior quarterback Ryan Perron was the star for Big Red with three passing touchdowns and one on the ground. For his efforts, Perron earned the Balfour Trophy for the Offensive Player of the Game. He was joined on the award platform by teammate Matt Hardy, who won the Defensive Player of the Game award.
The Bombardiers stunned North on the opening possession of the game.
Using a quick passing attack, Attleboro marched 76 yards in 13 plays. Quarterback Tim Walsh was 7-10 on the drive and capped it with a 1-yard keeper on 4th and Goal. Walsh hit junior wide receiver Tom Burns five times on the drive.
North Attleboro coach Don Johnson admitted that his team was a little surprised by the Bombardiers approach in their opening drive, but was proud of how his defense stepped up.
“We didn’t panic,” said Johnson. “I thought after that first drive, they really stepped it up nicely and played better.”
When his team’s offensive success was brought up, Johnson chuckled and added, “That helps. That makes the defense a hell of a lot better.”
On the next Attleboro possession, Hardy stepped up and picked off a Walsh pass at the Attleboro 21. That play was a turning point as the momentum shifted and the home crowd’s enthusiasm dropped considerably. Perron turned the interception into points with a 4-yard keeper.
North forced three and outs from Attleboro on each of the Bombardiers next two series. Both times the Rocketeers answered with touchdowns. Perron hit Jake Dellaire on a 56-yard TD on a deep crossing route and then found Jack Blasé with a 22-yard strike to make it 26-7 at halftime.
North tacked on touchdown runs from Jette and Dwayne Hunter, Jr. in the second half.
Attleboro scored its second touchdown with 1:31 remaining. Walsh found Brandon Clark for 40 yards down the left sideline.
Attleboro head coach Kevin Deschenes spoke after the game about making the game a building block for the younger players in the program.
“The juniors got a full season under their belts,” he added. “It is about the seniors too and you always want to send them off on a good note. That first series we looked real good but after that…we just need to keep rebuilding.”
With Balfour Trophy in hand, Perron spoke about the importance of finishing the season with a win over Attleboro.
He added, “We wanted to end on a good note. It’s been a long journey for us and we were happy to end it on an exclamation point.”
North Attleboro has dominated this series and has now won the last four meetings since being beaten in 2008. This might also be the last game in the series at the current Tozier-Cassidy Field. When the teams play on Thanksgiving Day in 2014, Attleboro hopes to have built a turf field and a new press box.