On a raw night in Foxboro in which they may have gotten something of a raw deal, the Needham Rockets showed resilience but came up just short, losing the Division 1 state football championship to Xaverian Brothers, 14-7.
The fourth-seeded Rockets found themselves on the ropes early and took multiple body shots from the third-seeded Hawks, whose dominant defensive front gave Needham’s offense precious little breathing room throughout the game.
After falling into a 14-0 hole when Xaverian scored on its first two possessions, the Rockets regrouped and carried the play to Xaverian early in the second half. They cut the lead in half when they scored on their first possession of the third quarter.
They appeared to have recovered a Xaverian fumble with less than four minutes to play, but the runner was ruled down, negating the fumble.
When the massive video screen at Gillette Stadium showed the replay — and the ball leaving the Xaverian runner’s hands before his knee touched the field — there was an audible groan from the packed Needham cheering section.
Instead of having the ball at midfield, Needham had to remain on defense. They would run only one more offensive play the rest of the game.
Early on, it looked like it would be a long night for the Rockets. After Needham had a shaky three-and out on the game’s opening possession, Xaverian hit the Rockets with a lightning bolt on its very first play.
Starting from their own 19, Xaverian went play action and quarterback Will Wood dropped a dime, hitting Dave Chiavegato on a deep cross despite tight coverage. Chiavegato escaped an initial hit and outraced two Needham defenders to cap the 81-yard play.
Needham responded with a methodical drive, converting twice on fourth down. On the second conversion, Needham’s Aidan Williams was contacted twice behind the line of scrimmage but still managed to keep the drive alive and set Needham up inside Xaverian’s 20.
Needham almost broke through on one deep throw, but after running 17 plays and taking more than eight minutes off the game clock, Needham was forced to try a 35-yard field goal, which was blocked.
Xaverian took over on the Needham 37. Six plays later — five of them runs by their bruising halfback Vincent Busa (140 yards on 23 carries) — Xaverian was in the end zone for the second time when Busa crashed over the left side from two yards out.
At this point, Xaverian had run seven plays and gained 144 yards in just over two minutes of possession. When Needham fumbled on its first play after the Busa touchdown, it looked like the competitive portion of the game might be quite short.
This is where Needham made its stand. Xaverian had a third-and-one from the Needham 24 when Rocket defensive end Will McDonald blew up the play and sacked Wood for a seven-yard loss. On fourth down, linebacker Caden McNamee split multiple blockers on a bubble screen, holding Busa to a short gain. Needham was still in a two-score game.
Xaverian had controlled the line of scrimmage in the first half and outgained Needham, 170 yards to 64. They gave Williams virtually no space, holding him to 8 yards on 8 carries, often contacting him almost as soon as he was handed the ball.
Needham found its rhythm in the second half. Linebacker Ben Schreiber, who spent much of the second half penetrating Xaverian’s backfield, kept Xaverian behind the sticks on first down. McDonald, also a defensive force throughout, forced Xaverian to punt after a third-down sack.
Taking over on the Xaverian 35, Needham finally broke through on a third-and-five when Xaverian somehow lost track of Williams in coverage. Quarterback Griffin Carr found Williams all by his lonesome in the right flat and Williams easily outraced the lone Xaverian defender to put Needham on the board. Alex Rufo’s point-after made it a 14-7 game with 7:57 left in the third period.
Xaverian responded with its first extended drive of the game. The Hawks ran 13 plays, advancing inside the Needham 20. But Rocket safety Nick Sewall made a great read when he stepped in front of an open Xaverian wideout and intercepted a pass near the goal line.
After an exchange of punts, Needham took over on its own 7 yardline when Williams
(58 yards on 13 carries for the night) finally flashed, breaking multiple tackles before finally being corralled after a 51-yard rumble into Xaverian territory.
Needham almost cashed in but a pass from Brandt Bickford off a fake reverse barely eluded Joe Kajunski one stride from the end zone. On the next play, Carr almost connected on a four-way jump ball in the end zone where Schrieber and Kajunsky outmaneuvered two Xaverian defenders but ended up battling each other for the well-placed ball.
Xaverian took over on downs with eight minutes left and began chewing up the clock. It then looked like Needham caught a break with the apparent fumble, but the call went the other way and Needham would not threaten again.
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