By Michael Hurley
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
Two years ago Norton got a late field goal to defeat the Medfield High football team in a mid-October game. Last week, the stakes were higher but unfortunately for the Warriors the result was the same.
Andrew Bernstein drilled a 32-yard field goal with 38 seconds left to lift the Lancers over the Warriors, 22-20, in a MIAA Division 5 Round of 16 battle. The No. 6 Lancers improved to 8-1 and will face No. 3 Watertown tomorrow night. The Warriors, now 7-2, play a consolation game tomorrow and then prepare to host Dover Sherborn on Thanksgiving.
“I’m tremendously proud of what our team has accomplished,” said Medfield coach Erik Ormberg. “The goal was to get to that second round and we were two points away from doing it. We lost to a very, very good football team. We have work to do. We can be one of very few Medfield football teams to win nine games, and they’re TVL champs. This one will certainly sting. It’s what we signed up for - 11-0, 0-11 and everything in between.”
The Warriors led 20-13 when senior captain Michael Twomey hauled in a 34-yard touchdown pass from Owen Sokolowski on the first play of the fourth quarter. Norton’s Kayden Plumb’s 54-yard kickoff return set the hosts up at the Medfield 39, but the Warrior defense held.
The offense couldn’t build on the lead; a holding penalty on first down and later a sack by Donnell Brade forced a punt. The Lancers cashed in, getting a 24-yard catch by Bernstein and, after a Nathan Bills sack and incompletion, a 22-yard catch in the back of the endzone by Brayden Salvo. Norton went for two but Jack Zengo, Ryan Larkin and James Hurley combined to keep quarterback Jacoby Flynn out of the endzone and preserve a 20-19 lead.
Taking over with 3:53 to play in the game, the offense again couldn’t gain a critical first down. And again Norton’s special teams came up with a big play when Bernstein returned Sokolowski’s punt from his own 46 to the Warrior 31. Runs by Flynn, Carson Wilbur and Salvo brought the ball to the Medfield 15 to set up Bernstein’s heroics.
“We stressed ourselves and put the defense in a couple tough positions,” said Ormberg. “The defense has responded so many times throughout the course of the season. Give Norton credit, they were able to make plays. Obviously making a kick like that at the end is pretty clutch. One more first down…We might question ourselves a little bit on my decision about not going for it on fourth down. We had stressed the defense so much I just felt like if we get a good kick, let it play out. They didn’t have any timeouts left, but they managed the clock well.”
Norton cashed in on its first possession for a 7-0 lead. The Warriors seemed to be in good shape with Norton facing fourth-and-9, but Flynn found Nate Kristiansen at the 11 and Kristiansen did the rest for the 7-0 lead.
Medfield put together a promising drive that ended in a punt, but the defense forced a three-and-out. Dani Chahine dropped Flynn on first down and then had Flynn in his grasp on second down to force an intentional grounding penalty.
The Warriors took over on their 13 and went on a 14-play drive over nine minutes to tie the game. Noah Smith carried four times for 43 yards to lead the way, Lucas Sullivan picked up 22 yards on three rushes and Sokolowski gained 11. Owen Graber capped it with a three-yard plunge and Ethan Ambrose drilled the PAT to tie it at 7-7.
Norton answered to go back up 13-7, set up again by a good kick return to the Medfield 32. A promising 13-play drive to open the second half ended abruptly on a Medfield fumble, but Smith turned the tides minutes later when he snagged the ball after Zengo blocked Flynn’s pass and took it 26 yards for the score.
“We knew it would be a back-and-forth event and Noah made an incredible play,” said Ormberg. “That’s when we started to feel like that fourth-quarter hammer was going to come down. Special teams-wise, we probably could’ve done things a little bit different on kickoffs. They won field position on a lot of their kickoffs.”
