By Max Clifford
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
In an homage to the Halloween season, the Braintree student section came out dressed in orange and black on Friday night, but Walpole refused to be spooked as the visitors rolled to a 28-12 victory.
As has been the case in many of Walpole’s games so far this season, defense was the story of the first quarter. Ironically, the game's first offensive spark came as Walpole defensive back Max Collins grabbed an interception and took it 40 yards for a touchdown.
Collins would leave the game shortly thereafter with a sprained ankle; Head Coach Chris Sullivan is hopeful that he will return for next week’s game.
After the teams once again traded stalled drives, the Walpole offense finally found itself in the red zone. From the 12-yard line, running back Andrew Falzone found his way into the end zone untouched by the defense to send the Timberwolves into halftime with a 14-0 lead.
In the third, a holding penalty on a punt return had the Walpole offense pinned inside their own ten-yard line. Quarterback Corey Kilroy, who had struggled to connect with his receivers early, found Rocco Ferzoco multiple times to take some of the pressure off of his backs as the offense drove downfield to set up Falzone for his second touchdown of the night.
After going scoreless through three quarters, Braintree found its offensive spark in the fourth. With just over eight minutes to play in the final frame, quarterback James Tellier found an open receiver down the sideline for a 38-yard touchdown, his longest completion of the game. The missed extra point kept the score at 21-6.
After recovering the onside kick, Walpole could not turn their drive into points. However, a Braintree fumble, recovered by linebacker Ali Salih, set them up in a goal-to-go situation. From the four-yard line, Falzone muscled his way into the end zone for his third touchdown of the night.
Despite forcing a turnover on the following possession, Walpole could not shut the door as they committed a turnover of their own. On their final drive of the night, Braintree’s Dom Dionisio made two defensive backs miss on a 32-yard touchdown catch. The score would be too little too late, however, as Walpole won by a final of 28-12.
Following his three-touchdown performance, Falzone had his mind on the next game. “There were definitely a lot of pros and cons," he said. "Our first half wasn’t our best half of football. Braintree’s a great team, but we've got to get right back at it tomorrow morning and get ready for Needham.”
Walpole takes its 5-1 record to Needham for a 6:30 p.m. start on Friday, October 21.
