Bulldogs’ Super Bowl dreams dashed in D5 south finals

Head coach Dave Bohane stands with his players after receiving the D5 south finalist trophy. (Cynthia Rosina photo)

The top-seeded CHS football team’s quest for an MIAA Super Bowl berth ended abruptly Friday night as a creative Holliston offense and several Canton penalties led to a 27-14 loss for the previously unbeaten Bulldogs in the Division 5 south championship game played at Memorial Field.

The Panthers (9-1), seeded second going into the tournament, will now move on to play north champion Swampscott (8-2) tomorrow night in the state semifinals, while Canton’s playoff ride is officially over. The Bulldogs (9-1) do still have bragging rights on the line as they get set to host traditional rival Stoughton (7-2) on Thanksgiving Day at CHS starting at 10 a.m.

Holliston’s 13-point margin of victory was somewhat deceiving as Canton led by a point at the half (7-6) and went into the fourth quarter down only one score at 14-7. At one point in the final frame, the Bulldogs appeared to be marching for the tying score, advancing to the Panther 40-yard line before fumbling. Holliston would recover the football, and five plays later they found the end zone to take a commanding 21-7 lead with just under four minutes to go in the game.

To the Bulldogs’ credit, they continued to battle and responded less than two minutes later with a touchdown of their own, as quarterback Johnny Hagan connected with all-purpose back Kyle Fitzgerald for an 18-yard scoring strike to cut the deficit to 21-14. But any comeback hopes were quickly dashed as Holliston recovered Canton’s onside kick attempt and pushed through another score with 1:44 remaining.

After relying almost entirely on the pass throughout the first half of the contest, Holliston unleased junior halfback Tristan Benson, who became the first runner to amass over 100 yards against the Canton defense this season. Benson used his speed, quickness and agility to break through the defensive line and linebackers in the second half.

The Panthers also took advantage of seven Canton penalties, including four offensive holding calls that negated first downs. Although somewhat smaller in size, Holliston was the first team to collectively contain the Bulldogs’ trio of offensive weapons on the ground: Hagan, Fitzgerald and Gersom Rivera.

Canton was only able to gain 132 rushing yards for the game, with 93 by Fitzgerald and only 36 by Hagan. Hagan was under pressure throughout most of the game but still managed to connect on seven passes for 148 yards, with 47 yards gained by receiver Jace Emma.

In the first half, Holliston quarterback Matt Arvanitis came out throwing and most of the Holliston offense came through the air, highlighted by a 32-yard bomb to Christian Schneeloch in the second quarter that gave the Panthers an early 6-0 lead. But Canton reversed the momentum with pressure on Arvanitis, which led to an interception by Robbie Gallery on one series and a defensive score by Canton lineman Jahmi Aldin, who recovered a fumble after a sack by linebacker Ben Guerini.

After the game, CHS head coach Dave Bohane praised the hard work of all of his players but acknowledged that the Canton penalties — also a common problem in many of their prior victories — were a major factor in this game.

Senior Gersom Rivera is consoled after the game. (Cynthia Rosina photo)

“We kind of flirted with that all year and I take full responsibility,” said Bohane. “We were kind of an undisciplined team and got away with it for many games. Tonight, in a game like this, when you get to a sectional championship, we had some bad penalties and we paid for them. I don’t want to take anything away from Holliston. They executed very well like we thought they would. I thought our defense didn’t do a bad job, but we just didn’t do enough to move the ball.”

Holliston head coach Todd Kiley was effusive in his praise for Canton and noted it may have been the toughest defense his team has encountered this year. The Panthers came into the game averaging more than 30 points per contest but had to scratch and claw for their 27 points. “Canton’s defense kept me up all week,” said Kiley. “There is no weakness on that team; they are a phenomenal team, one of the best I have had to prepare for. Their coaching staff has done a phenomenal job and we just made a couple more plays than they did.” Kiley added that Benson’s play was a factor in the second half and the coaches “felt good about his matchup.”

Bohane said both teams played excellent football but he thought the Panthers were “just a little better in the middle than we thought.”

“We have been able to stay the course and eventually wear down teams,” he said. “That didn’t happen tonight. I give Holliston a lot of credit; they are well coached. They played hard and our kids played hard too. It was a good game that got away from us a little bit. Holliston does a lot of things that offensively put a lot of pressure on you.”

Despite the loss, Fitzgerald excelled in all three phases of the game. In addition to his team-high 93 rushing yards, he caught three passes for 26 yards and a score, led the team with nine tackles and a pass breakup, and fielded punts and kickoffs. On defense, besides Guerini and Gallery, key contributors included senior lineman Jack Connolly, who had a sack, and senior linebackers Owen Lehane and James Murphy, who each had five tackles.

Even with temperatures in the 30s at kickoff, the game was well attended with both the home and visitor sides having overflow crowds. The game concluded with a brief awards ceremony as Holliston was presented with the D2 south championship trophy while Canton took home its second consecutive sectional finalist trophy.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Nov 23 2019. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.