Foxboro Offense Stutters in Super Bowl Loss to Shawsheen Tech

Foxboro football
Jonathan Balde (center) and a handful of Foxboro players tackle Shawsheen Tech quarterback Sid Tildsley in the Division 5 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor

FOXBORO, Mass. – Almost exactly a year ago, Foxboro (8-4) piled up the offensive stats to win its first state championship title in 17 years. The Warriors scored 42 points and got 141 yards on the ground from star back Ben Angelini to beat Hanover and lift the trophy.

Friday evening’s Div. 5 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium was the complete opposite. Foxboro was stuck in neutral against top seed Shawsheen Tech (12-0), amassing only 58 yards of total offense (just 21 yards on the ground) and ran only a single play in the opposition half of the field. The Shawsheen Tech offense hardly lit up the scoreboard, with only 142 total yards and six first downs, but the Rams scored two fourth quarter touchdowns and pulled out a 14-0 victory.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

It was a bit of revenge for the Rams, who were beaten 42-12 in a fiery Final Four encounter last season.

“They packed the box with nine kids and we didn’t execute to spring him, hence the score,” Foxboro coach Jack Martinelli said about the inability to get Angelini (18 carries, 39 yards) and the ground game going. “We couldn’t move the ball and I think it came down to that.”

The game could have been very different for the Warriors. On the second play of the game, Mike Marcucella (6-of-21, 37 yards) went deep to Cam Deleskey, who was able to spin back to his outside shoulder and haul in the pass then made a great move to elude a pair of tacklers for what looked like an 85-yard touchdown. But, a penalty flag in the backfield negated the big play.

Martinelli said, “The first one being taken away changed some momentum, not as an excuse. We just didn’t move the ball good enough to put them behind the sticks. Pretty damn good defensive game both ways, just couldn’t break one.”

Despite the offense’s struggles, the Foxboro defense came out determined to keep the Warriors in the game. On Shawsheen Tech’s first drive, Gabe Beaule stopped the first play for no gain and Deleskey made a nice play to break up the third-down pass and force a punt. The next possession was also a three-and-out after Jon Sacchetti broke up a pass and Matt O’Keefe’s pressure forced another incompletion.

Foxboro’s third drive started near midfield but ended with Will Holloway picking off a Marcucella pass on the sideline. The Rams couldn’t take advantage of the turnover, as Beaule made another tackle for loss and an incompletion on third and long forced a punt, although Jack Finn was able to pin the Warriors inside their own 10.

Shawsheen Tech QB Sidney Tildsley (21 carries, 65 yards and 4-of-11 passing for 46 yards) returned a punt 26 yards down to the Foxboro 16. It looked like the Rams were finally going to be able to get the breakthrough, but Beaule stopped Tildsley for a short gain on third down and James Dee-Gaffney sacked Tildsley for a loss of 12 on fourth.

Momentum was short-lived, as Marcucella was sacked on first down and the Warriors went three-and-out again.

“It was [a big stop] and we didn’t take advantage,” Martinelli said. “The momentum never swung either way for most of the game. Give their kids credit, they swung the momentum hence the end result.”

With five minutes left in the second, Foxboro started to put together a drive, as Angelini gained 13 out to the 42 (his longest run of the night) and, after an offsides penalty, Foxboro had third and one at the Rams 49. The Warriors lost two yards on the next play back across the 50 and they were forced to punt.

Early in the third quarter, Sacchetti gave Foxboro more life when he picked off a Tildsley pass on the sideline. The Warriors took over at their own 46, but they lost four yards over the next three plays and couldn’t capitalize on the great field position.

Andrew Higgins did drop another punt inside the Shawsheen Tech 20 forcing the Rams to start from their own 17. Despite starting deep in its own territory, Shawsheen Tech managed to put together the best (only) drive of the game, marching 83 yards on 16 plays.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

Jack Banda converted a third and short to move the chains and Tildsley hit Dyllon Pratt for 10 yards to convert another third down into Foxboro’s half of the field. The big play was a 33-yard pass to Zack Timmons as he leaked out of the backfield, getting all the way to the Warriors 10. Trevor Palmer stuffed Tildsley for a loss on the next play and Ryan Foley made a touchdown-saving tackle on second down, but Tildsley punched it in from a yard out to make it 7-0 with 7:15 to play.

Foxboro wanted a quick response and got a boost when Nolan Gordon was interfered with, gifting a first down near midfield. Tildsley made plays in all three phases, intercepting a Marcucella pass to end the possession. The ball was punted right back to Foxboro but another interception, this time by Banda, was returned inside the Warriors five.

Tildsley capped off his night and effectively sealed the title with a two-yard plunge that made it 14-0 with just 2:37 left on the clock.

“They all played tough,” Martinelli said about his team’s effort, particularly on defense. “I’m proud of them for that.”

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Thursday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 01/19/23

Today’s games are listed below.

Girls Basketball
Sharon, 39 vs. Leominster, 56 – Final

Boys Indoor Track
Oliver Ames, 44 @ Stoughton, 56 – FinalStoughton swept the long jump and the 55M dash as well as taking both relays to pick up an impressive win over Oliver Ames, securing a second-place finish in the Davenport division. Matt Singletary’s leap of 20-04.00 took first (second best in the Hock) with Alex Huynh and Tito Nwosu rounding out the sweep for the Black Knights, while Zachary Feist (7.00) won the 55M dash followed by Matt-Andy Beauchamps and Tyler Noel. Singletary also won the high jump (6-02.00), Thomas Laz won the shot put with a throw of 40-10.50, and William Tinkham won both the 55M hurdles (7.99) and the 300M (38.18). Tinkham also anchored Stoughton’s 4×200 relay team along with Beauchamps, Feist, and Noel, setting a new school record in 1:34.12. Oliver Ames swept four events on the night: the 2 Mile (Brody Lake, Oscar Feodoroff, Jonah Sobieraj), the 1000M (Aidan Dupill, Ryan Sarney, Brendan Tomas), the 600M (Sarney, Dupill, Thomas), and the 1 Mile (Alexander Pierce, Ethan Mahoney, Landon Sarney).

Canton, 41 @ Foxboro, 55 – FinalFoxboro finished first in eight races, and took second in the other two as they earned a win over Canton. Daniel O’Malley earned 15 points with three first place finishes, winning the high jump (6-00.00), the 55M hurdles (8.56), and the 300M (37.39). Other first place finishes for the Warriors were Edosa Omeumu (long jump, 17-06.25), Joe Flanagan (league-best shot put throw of 47-03.50), Brooks Stone (1000M, 2:45.85), Stephen Haney (600M, 1:27.37), and Chris Proulx (1 Mile, 4:53.92). Trevor Palmer and Johnny Ahearn earned four points with a second-third finish in the 2 Mile, and Jaiden Jean and Ishmel Sillah did the same in the 55M dash for Foxboro. Canton’s Luke Darling won the 2 Mile (11:03.65) and Christian Hanlon took first in the 5MM dash (7.13). Canton won both relays with the 4×400 team (Dan Glemaud, Sam Vail, Austin DiBiasio, Mohith Arugollu) clocking in at 4:06.38, and the 4×200 team (Hanlon, Joshua Richards, Charlie Zack, Alex Kraslynkov) finishing in 1:40.33.

Mansfield, 74 @ Sharon, 25 – FinalMansfield completed an undefeated dual meet season with a win over Sharon anchored by sweeps in the shot put and the 55M dash, first place finishes in six more events, and wins in both relays. The Davenport division champs picked up all nine points in the shot put led by Ayden Agbasi’s throw of 44-10.75 with Billy Gardner and Daniel Mintz rounding out the top three. Myles Brown earned first in the 55M dash in 6.76 followed closely in second by Nate Kablik (6.88) and third by Sirius Li (6.96). Talon Johnson had a league-best time in the 1000M, clocking in at 2:40.46 for first, Evan Thevenot took first in the long jump (19-11.50), freshman Joey Federline Jr. won the 2 Mile by breaking 11 minutes for the first time (10:58.15), Troy Penney won the 600M (1:29.04) by less than a second over Sharon’s Karthik Pisupati (1:29.77) with Kyle Dickinson’s PR time of 1:32.37 good for third, Colby Quersher took the 1 Mile in 4:54.12, and Grady Sullivan (37.26) and Matthew Breitenstein went 1-2 in the 300M, both setting new PRs. For Sharon, Naeem Prempin won the high jump (5-04.00) and Alexander Gong clocked in at 8.12 to win the 55M hurdles.

Attleboro, 52 @ Franklin, 48 – FinalAttleboro won both relays, setting a new school record in the 4×200 in the process, to rally for a win over Franklin and clinch the Kelley-Rex division title. Trailing by one going into the final relay, the Bombardiers 2×400 relay team of Peter DelPozzo, Michael Huntington, Jordan Rivera-Silva, and Adrian Rivera registered the best time in school history at 1:33.08 to win the relay and the dual meet. Attleboro’s 4×400 relay team of Austin Bowie, Nicolas Graber, Sean Kaswale, and Camden Martin won in 3:33.62, less than a second ahead of Franklin. Sean O’Hara-Ouellette won the high jump (6-00.00), Adrian Rivera and Jordan Rivera-Silva went 1-2 in the long jump, DelPozzo clocked in first in the 55M hurdles (8.47), and Rivera-Silva took first in the 300M. Luke Hagopian (1000M), Kamron marsh (shot put), and Graber (600M) each had key second place finishes to secure key points. Franklin picked up wins from Jacob Bowser (shot put), Tyler Apicella (2 Mile), Luke Sidwell (55M dash), Jack Halter (1000M), Jake Vaccarezza (600M), and swept the 1 Mile (Jonathan Pink, Will Boozang, Bradford Morin).

King Philip, 42 @ Taunton, 58 – FinalTaunton won both relays, picked up nine points in each the 55M dash and the 300M, and had three more first place finishes in a win over KP. Dmitrius Shearrion anchored both sweeps for the Tigers and was apart of the winning 4×200 relay. Shearrion won the 55M dash in 6.75 followed by Jonathan Trinh and Xavier Spencer, while his win in the 300M (35.30) anchored the sweep along with Jared Spencer and Chris Wallace. Sam Denis added a win in the 2 Mile (10:34.45), Andrew Cali clocked in first in the 1000M (2:50.25), and Cam Door won the 600M in 1:33.23. Degen Granese won a pair of events for the Warriors, taking first in both the long jump (19-04.75) and the shot put (41-09.00), Keagan Fletcher won the high jump at 6-00.00, Kevin Smith’s time of 8.45 won the 55M hurdles, and Nathan Sylven crossed the finish line at 4:43.44 to win the 1 Mile race.

North Attleboro, 66.5 @ Milford, 33.5 – FinalNorth Attleboro’s Nathan Shultz continued his dominance this season, taking three wins — all three with league-best finishes — to lead the Rocketeers to a win over Milford. Shultz was the fastest in the 55M dash, recording a league-best time of 6.69 and then posted a league-best jump of 6-06.00 to win the high jump and a Hock-best leap of 22-05.75 to win the long jump. Connor Peterson anchored a sweep in the 2 Mile with a time of 11:01.51 followed by William Atwood and Brendan Simpson. North also got 1-2 finishes in the long jump (Kyle Conroy), the 55M dash (Abraham Guir), the 1000M (Brady King, Yousef Abdalla), and the 300M (Sam Bush, Guir). Milford’s Christopher Benson won the shot put with a throw of 35-04.00 and Ben Parson took first in the 600M (1:29.99).








Girls Indoor Track
Oliver Ames, 57 @ Stoughton, 43 – FinalOliver Ames completed its second straight undefeated dual meet season to claim another Davenport division title, their seventh overall. The Tigers swept a pair of events with Katie Sobieraj anchoring both of them. Sobieraj had a Hock-best time of 3:00.38 in the 300M and was followed by teammates Molly Capece and Erin Reilly while also winning the 2 Mile in 12:39.50 with Iole Apostoli and Brynn Cushing rounding out the top three. Jenna Gilman added a win in the 600M (1:41.67), Catie Wilson took another win in the shot put (28-03.00), and Taegan Hodges and Hailey Goldman went 1-2 in the 1 Mile race. Stoughton’s Gabriele Julien won both the high jump (4-10.00) and the long jump (15-08.50), Shayla Ford was also a double-winner by taking the 55M dash (7.56) and the 300M (42.78), and Belleya Franck added a first place finish in the 55M hurdles (9.73).

Canton, 77 @ Foxboro, 23 – FinalCanton collected key points by sweeping both the shot put and the 1000M in a win over Foxboro to conclude the dual meet season. Emma Massih anchored the sweep in the shot put along with Allie Wong and Jess Brathwaite while Tahlia Weaver led the charge in the 1000M with Daphne Golden and Sarah Dempster rounding out the top three. Katie Oliver was a double-winner for the Bulldogs, taking first in both the 55M hurdles and the long jump, Maggie McCready had a 10-second personal best time while taking first in the 1 Mile, and Lexi Piazza won the 600M race, setting a new PR by seven seconds.

Mansfield, 74 @ Sharon, 24 – Final Mansfield took first in 10 events plus one relay to claim a big win over Sharon. The Hornets swept the shot put (Caitlin Garrahy, Juliana Machado, Joselyn Saba), the 55M dash (Abigail Scott, Chloe Guthrie, Meghan Driscoll), and the 300M (Olivia Barry, Brooke Penney, Alexandra Leman) for a total of 27 points. Guthrie also won the long jump (15-10.00), Elyssa Buchanan won two events, taking first in the 55M hurdles (9.47) and the high jump (4-08.00), Anna Moore won the 2 Mile in 12:10.00, Norah Puleo took first in the 1000M (3:23.01), Avery Hawthorne added five points by winning the 600M (1:50.11), and Alexandra Petrova clocked in at 6:09.78 to win the 1 Mile. Olivia Nau had six points for the Eagles, taking second in both the long jump and the 55M hurdles.

Attleboro, 9 @ Franklin, 90 – FinalFranklin swept eight events in a dominant showing, finishing off a 5-0 season to clinch the Kelley-Rex division crown for the first time since 2018. The Panthers swept the high jump (Abigail Griffith, Sarah Dumas, Vera Hansen), the long jump (Dumas, Barra Pfluke, Cailyn Bruno), the shot put (Lily DeForge, Elizabeth Hopkins, Darby Nicholson), the 55M hurdles (Ella Chandaria, Hansen, Bruno), the 55M dash (Dumas, Chandaria, Sophia Cuneo), the 1000M (Gwenyth Holland, Allison Powderly, Katie Barrow), the 600M (Bruno, Anna Cliff, Ella McLaughlin), and the 300M (Cuneo, Olivia Costa, Cassidy Carmignani). Mackenzie Mann added a win in the 2 Mile, clocking in at 13:43.88. Attleboro’a Emilia Smith won the 1 Mile in 5:39.10.

King Philip, 54 @ Taunton, 45 – FinalKing Philip won the 4×200 relay by less than two seconds to secure a win over Taunton in a close battle. The Tigers won the 4×800 relay in 4:25.63 (the team of Phylicia Dias, Braelyn Nichols, Sydney Martin, Caelyn O’Leary) to have a shot at the win but KP’s 4×200 relay team of Sarah Glaser, Madeline Hill, Ali Gill, and Alex D’Amadio finished in 1:52.79 to secure the win. D’Amadio collected six points from a first place finish in the 300M (43.25) and a third place in the 600M (1:51.23), Gill and Glaser finished 1-2 in the 55M dash, and Hill added 10 more points by winning both the long jump (15-05.00) and the 55M hurdles (9.74). Katherine O’Neil added a win in the shot put (32-00.50) and Cheyanne Kelley won the 1000M in 3:34.06. Taunton’s Colby Dunham won the 2 Mile in 13:09.23, Emersyn DePonte and Sarah Mendonca went 1-2 in the 1 Mile, and Dias and Martin finished first and second in the 600M.

North Attleboro, 50 @ Milford, 50 – FinalMilford and North Attleboro entered the relays tied, and after splitting the relays, finished that way in a 50-50 tie. There was no separation between the Hawks and the Rocketeers, who had 45 points apiece before the relays. Milford won six of the 10 events but North had key depth by getting points from second and third place finishes. Kiyanna Simas won both the long jump (17-04.00) and the 55M dash (7.43), both were league best finishes on the night. The Hawks also got wins from Kay Wheelock (55M hurdles, 10.16), Carly Haley (1000M, 3:30.71), Sydney Kalil (1 Mile, 5:40.35), and swept the 300M (Gabby Peniche, Kaylee Whitney, Wheelock). North picked up wins from Sydney O’Connor in the high jump (4-08.00) with Caroline Folan and Megan Ladd rounding out a sweep, Sienna Newth in the shot put (32-06.50), Ellie Fournier in the 2 Mile (13:34.87), and Faith Wilder in the 600M (2:06.43).