11/1/2021
With a potential Nor-eastern blowing through the area on game day and heavy rains predicted, AD Ken Risley arranged for us to move the game to Concord-Carlisle's turf field. It's always a little strange any time we put on our home "Cardinal" and don't play on campus, but the players' focus remained laser shape for the game, no matter what the conditions turned out to be.
As game time approached and both teams took the field, there was drizzle falling but no heavy rain yet. The MX 11 took immediate advantage of the situation, as the offense received the kickoff and drove the ball down the field, finishing the drive on a 1-yard QB sneak by Cam Fries '22 (Liam Connor added the PAT) for a 7-0 lead. While the defense forced Tabor to punt on their first four possessions, the offense continued in high gear. Early in the second quarter wide receiver Mark Conde '22 caught a sweet 34-yard touchdown pass from Cam Fries. The offense added a 47-yard field goal by Liam Connor before half time for a 17-0 lead.
Football is definitely "a game of momentum" and although the MX 11 took advantage of their early control of the game, Tabor would seize that momentum during the third quarter. On MX's opening drive of the second half, a couple of mistakes and a series of penalties turned the ball over to Tabor deep in MX territory. Tabor would score soon after, the touchdown seemed to really energize Tabor. Before the end of the quarter, Tabor would score twice more, on a punt return and a trick pass play. Credit must go to the MX defense, as they continued to deny Tabor any PAT points, but Tabor would take the lead heading into the fourth quarter 18-17.
In the fourth quarter the MX 11 worked hard to recapture the momentum, showing what they were made of. The defense again stonewalled Tabor's offense and our offensive line (Peter Sleeper '22, Nick DeBruin '22, Pranav Natarajan '22, Kevin Ma '22, Charlie Haight '23, and Nate Crozier '22) took over the game. Throughout the quarter they opened holes for Bo Bensley '23 and running back and lead blocker Chester Boynton '23. With about 10 minutes to go, the MX 11 put together the drive we needed, running the ball 7 times and scoring on a Bensley 6-yard run to regain the lead. We decided to go for a 2-point conversion and on a fake PAT, Chester Boynton found Nate Crozier in the end zone to stretch the lead to 7 points, 25-18. From there the defense took over (Hunter Kuftinec '23, Peter Sleeper, Nick DeBruin, Kevin Ma, Gabe Custodio '23, Charlie Haight, and David Bates '23 up front, Nate Crozier, Max Toomey '22, Bo Bensley, and Chester Boynton at linebackers, and AliJah Clark '23, Mark Conde, Liam Connor, Griffin Miller '24, and Eoin Morrissey '22 in the secondary) stopping Tabor on a fourth down so the offense could run out the clock for the victory. Bo Bensley and the offensive line gained 176 yards on 22 carries.
The next game will be at home on our grass field this coming Friday, November 5th at 2:15 pm.
