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Needham traveled to Natick in week eight with two playoff spots up for grabs. The Junior Rockets finished the day at 2-2 in the competitive brackets with B Squad advancing to the Bay State Conference semifinals next weekend.
A Squad – Natick 38, Needham 16 – The grade eight Jr. Rockets finished their season with a hard fought 38-16 loss to perennial National Tournament contender Natick. Execution on special teams was the Rockets’ strong-suit on Saturday as Kyle Corbett and Reuben Melkonian each managed to score on kickoff returns, both followed up by successful PAT’s by Ryan Hurley.
PJ Corwin started his second game as quarterback for Needham and completed passes to Corbett and Melkonian as well as wideout Patrick Toolan. Running backs Aiden Gallagher and James O'Connor put together solid runs against an enormous Natick defensive line. On the defensive side of the ball, Tyler Ng, Tommy Fullbrook, Cam Hebert, and Griffen Hession all had excellent showings, making some big tackles for loss for the Jr. Rockets.
B Squad – Needham 22, Natick 0 – B squad ended a 6-2 regular season with a shutout victory over Natick on Saturday afternoon. In a much anticipated match up of top Bay State teams, the Jr. Rockets came out flying, pushing Natick all over the field and dominating right from the start. A great defensive effort by Ryan Hannigan, Chris Northrup, Brady Ross, Aiden O’Brien, Will Harris, Matt Filippine, Hansen Miller, and Griffin Colwell afforded Natick only four first downs throughout the entire game.
The Jr. Rockets are clicking on all cylinders heading into the Bay State playoffs for the first time.
C Squad – Needham 36, Natick 7 – C Squad found itself in a 7-0 hole early in its do or die matchup against Natick but bounced back strong. Sparked by a pair of big scoring plays by Marcus Fuentes (55-yard kickoff return and a sweep touchdown) the Junior Rockets took control and rolled.
Dominant play by the offensive line of Gerald Pendergast, Wyatt Fromm, Cam Fox, Drew Eldridge, Ted Carter, Ronan Tennis and Scott Palmatier led to touchdowns by Jonah Bloch, Rafael Montero, Josh Melia and Tyler Closuit.
Defensively, C Squad played shut down after surrendering the early touchdown with big plays by George Darwin, Conor Finnegan, Ben Chapman, Riley Bloch, Angela Demaio and Daniel Altshuler. Unfortunately, a double overtime win by Milton over Newton on Sunday ended C squad’s season via the tiebreaker.
D Squad – Natick 7, Needham 0 – D Squad had a tough loss this weekend to a strong Natick team. Steady snapping from Charlie Fondo in the mud, a couple deep passes from quarterback George Addona and several strong runs by Andrew Spezzano, Mike Hegarty, Lyle Corwin, Josh Morant and Jase Hannigan were not enough to put points on the board for Needham. On defense, PJ Hartley, Cam Schreiber, James Young and Connor Dempsey worked hard to keep the Natick offense back. Spencer Chapman again had an interception but unfortunately was stopped at the 30-yard line on his attempt to run it back for a touchdown by a shoelace tackle. Jimmy Rochford had numerous strong tackles, one preventing a key first down.
E1 Squad (4th Grade) vs Natick* – The E1 team finished their season strong in Saturday’s mud bowl. The defense set the tone on the first play from scrimmage with defensive tackles Charlie Simeone, Alex Rutley as well as defensive end Sean Baker breaking through the line and stuffing the Natick ball carrier in backfield. Linebacker Travis O’Brien then came in and ripped the ball away and ran 40 yards untouched for a defensive touchdown.
In the mud and rain, both offenses struggled early, but quarterback Jack Barrett was able to break free on an inside run behind linemen Dom Hamwey, Andrew Carter, Will Connelly and Nolan Joyce for a 38-yard touchdown. Kicker Alex Rufo kept his perfect extra point streak alive with two more on Saturday.
E2 Squad (2nd/3rd Grade) vs Natick* - The E2 Jr. Rockets took on the Natick in the cold with torrential rain. The Rockets had an amazing game with multiple strip tackles and fumbles caused by Jack Gage and Jake Heckman. Carson Dunn dominated the line with help from Kenneth Ronchinsky, Collin Corbett and Kiernan Collins. AJ Scholz, Tyler Langford and Emerson Wilson all ran well for the Rockets. Hanna McIntyre and Shaun Villa were in on many tackles. Sam Gage did a great job at center while guards Rory Kizer and Brady Bloch did great protecting the backfield.
* Note that scores are not kept for the E1 and E2 instructional levels of AYF Football.
