Junior Rockets sweep Boxers

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For week eight, Needham Junior Football played host to five games against Brockton. With playoff spots on the line, Needham went 3-0 in its competitive divisions. The seventh graders qualified for their first ever Bay State Conference playoffs, while the fifth graders picked up the victory but didn’t get the help they needed to make the playoffs.

A Squad – Needham 42, Brockton 18 – A squad (3-4) beat Brockton on Saturday 42-18 thanks to a strong collective effort. The Junior Rockets were led by excellent offensive line play by Alex Mackay, Patrick Morrison, Brady Ross, Thomas Hartley, Jack Snelling, Collin Schooling, Matthew Meade, Nick Dugan and Will Harris. The quality blocking led to rushing scores by Isaiah Groupee, Edgar Vazquez, Adrian Rufo and Aiden O’Brien. Needham played stingy defense with excellent tackles by Chris Northrup, John Ogletree, Matthew Ferrera, and Micah Taylor.

B Squad – Needham 22, Brockton 19 – B squad (5-3) faced its second straight must-win game and once again came up with a hard earned victory, along with its first ever berth in the Bay State Conference playoffs. Needham found itself down early with Brockton scoring a long touchdown on the first play of the game. But, Needham proved up to the task by scoring a touchdown on its first series by Marcus Fuentes and added a two-point PAT to take an 8-6 lead, setup by a 35-yard kick return by Rafael Montero. Hard running by Montero and Colin Sullivan behind powerful blocking from Wyatt Fromm, Owen Scholz, Ronan Tennis and Cam Fox, were capped off by the 16-yard touchdown go-ahead touchdown from Marcus Fuentes.

Centers Matthew Hebert, Tommy Langford and Gerald Pendergast snapped dependably all day even though they stared down defensive linemen twice their size.

Following the opening score by Fuentes, the Needham defense setup the offense as Finn Leavitt forced a fumble on a backwards screen pass from the Brockton quarterback that Tyler Closuit covered for a turnover. Montero took advantage and punched the ball in for a four-yard touchdown run on Needham’s ensuing possession. Another defensive stand by the Junior Rockets, highlighted by several tackles for loss by Noah Patti, led to a 22-yard touchdown by Closuit, followed by by a successful PAT by Fuentes, his second of the night.

Leading by three late, the Needham defense once again stood tall. Brockton was pinned deep in their own territory thanks to a 40-yard punt by Fuentes. Will Sullivan set the tone for the drive with a hard tackle of Brockton’s gigantic fullback, which rallied his teammates. Ben Chapman, Sean Skaritanov, George Darwin, Daniel Altshuler and Paolo Agualimpia made big plays down the stretch. Josh Melia grabbed hold of the Brockton back on a fourth down and made the game-sealing tackle with a minute to play.

D Squad – Needham 20, Brockton 18 – D Squad (5-3) finished the season with a victory over Brockton and wing back Harry Dummer was the star of the first half, catching a long pass from quarterback Jack Barrett over the middle for a 45-yard gain. Dummer also reversed field on a 15-yard touchdown run behind the blocking of Ty Beerbohm, Emmett Lockwood-Mullaney, and Will Connelly. Needham’s other touchdowns came from quick hitting wing back Brandt Bickford on an eight-yard blast and fullback Dom Funke on a hard-charging 10-yard belly run.

Needham’s defense limited the speedy Brockton team to only a few long positive plays. Linebacker Travis O’Brien routinely was in the Raider backfield making tackles for loss. Defensive tackles Alex Rutley and Michael Strong along with linebackers Denis O’Donovan and Ben Schreiber kept constant pressure on Brockton’s quarterback and logged four total sacks on the day. Brandt Bickford logged one of two interceptions for the Junior Rockets in the second half. Cornerbacks Reno Salvant and Nolan Joyce helped ice the game with stellar play on Brockton’s final two drives, not allowing a first down in either case.

E1 Squad vs. Brockton - This week, the E1 Rockets played their season finale minus two key performers – Tyler Langford and Brady Bloch. The Rockets exercised their versatility by playing four different quarterbacks; Jake Heckman, Daniil Landau, Brian DeGrandis and AJ Scholz from two different centers – Shaun Villa and Aiden Mack. Helping Shaun and Aiden on the line were Zoe Zalvan, Hanna McIntyre, Dean Mostafa, Tenoch Mendez, Yariel Lara and Yadiel Lara.

The defense was lead by Hanna McIntyre, Kenneth Ronchinsky, Rory Kizer, and Emerson Wilson. Kenneth and Rory did a great job keeping the runs to the inside with help from Heckman at linebacker while Emerson chased down anyone who broke away.

E2 Squad (2nd/3rd Grade) vs Brockton - This week, the E2 football team was led by Rory Funke’s touchdown. Funke was set up thanks to a long run by Matthew Mullaney. The offense was led by Robert Mahar’s receiving abilitities, blocking by Will Young, Sam Drayer, and Grayden Loeb.

The Needham defense was led by Nicholas Hebert’s sack and key tackling . Colin Corbett was a going concern in the backfield all day and would require multiple Brockton players to hold him off. The rest of the defense - Dash Mendez, Jacob Donis, Giovanni Virgilio, and Cedric Steele played perfect in shutting down a potent Brockton offense.

Note that scores are not kept for the E1 and E2 instructional levels of AYF Football.