Varsity football makes comeback

By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter

On Thursday night, varsity football (0–7) played the Framingham Flyers (4–2) on the Memorial Field turf for their last game before Thanksgiving. The Rockets have had a tough year, but the fans who braved the rain got to see them come back from an 8-point deficit and win their first game of the season, 15–11.

The Flyers were favored to win and took an early lead, leaving the first quarter up 8–0. The Rockets got their chance to respond in the final minute of the second quarter when they were on the 10-yard line with 35 seconds remaining. Needham called a time-out before making their play, and when they were held at the 8-yard line, used a second time-out to stop the clock at 29 seconds. Taking the field again, on the third down, the Rockets snapped the ball to Tyler Langford, who ran the ball into the endzone. The team opted for a two-point conversion, and just before getting hit by Nicolas Barbalho, Langford was able to get a pass off to Joey Saratella in the endzone, tying the score up at 8–8.

At halftime, Needham recognized some teachers by reading out their names and bringing them onto the field for a round of applause. Adam Cole, a math teacher at the high school, then successfully made a field goal attempt on his first try with his son Nathaniel Cole as the holder. When the Rockets returned to the field, the teachers and cheerleaders formed the tunnel to welcome them back.

In the fourth quarter, Brandon Hill and Matthew Mullaney made two great tackles, Hill thwarting a play almost immediately and Mullaney pulling down a Flyer who otherwise may have made a long run down into their endzone. Held at 8 points, Framingham made a field goal attempt and were successful, pulling themselves into the lead 11–8 with 2:58 left in the game.

Christian Rocamboli received the punt and made a good run down the field, ending in a first-down at the 33-yard line. From there, the ball was snapped and handed off to Joey Saratella, who took it another 32 yards. On the next play, Owen Gonzalez broke away from the fray and ran to the endzone, pursued by Dylan Gold. At roughly the 3-yard line, Gold made contact with Gonzalez and both fell as Gonzalez was tackled, ending in the endzone with both on the ground and the ball loose. The ref called that the touchdown had been completed before the ball was dropped, though some Framingham fans and players called for a fumble. The ref had a pretty good angle to see what happened though, and upheld his call. In the lead by 3 points, the Rockets went for just an extra-point attempt this time, taken by Colton Harjula, while a group of Needham fans crowded behind the goal post to catch the ball.

Now ahead for the first time in the game, Needham had to keep up a strong defense for the final two and a half minutes. There was a dangerous pass down the field at the very end, but James Lalonde kept it from being completed, and later Hill would make the final tackle with five seconds left.

The final game of the Rockets’ season will be at Wellesley High School for their annual Thanksgiving Day game at 10:00am.