CANTON — The 2019 season was a memorable season for Canton fans in countless ways.
A year of incredible highs came to a halt Nov. 15 in a playoff defeat at the hands of Holliston, but the Bulldogs wanted to send their fans home to their collective feasts with one last hurrah.
They delivered.
Senior captain Johnny Hagan threw for a pair of touchdowns as the Bulldogs (10-1) knocked off longtime rival Stoughton, 30-8, in the 94th installment of their Thanksgiving Day rivalry.
“You see it over there on the sidelines, and you’re like: ‘There it is,’” Canton coach Dave Bohane said as he glanced at the Thanksgiving trophy. “Kids were definitely disappointed last year. Played great, but Stoughton came to play. We had to live with it the whole year. I think all the talk going into it was: ‘Let’s not have that happen again.’ But also (to capture) the trophy.”
Entering this season, Stoughton had defeated Canton in 20 of the previous 24 contests. But Thursday was the Bulldogs’ time to shine, as Hagan connected with fellow team captain, Kyle Fitzgerald, going over-the-top for a 31-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter, as Canton took a 7-0 lead with 8:14 remaining in the half.
Less than three minutes later, Fitzgerald struck again, this time on a 3-yard touchdown run, and in the blink of an eye, the Bulldogs were up, 14-0, with 5:33 to go before the break.
But Stoughton had an answer, as junior running back, Christian Ais, scampered six yards for a touchdown himself. Clayton Rahaman then found Anthony Pizzano in the end-zone for a two-point conversion, and the Black Knights (8-3) had life, down 14-8 with 1:14 to play in the second quarter.
Rather than mailing it in however, the Bulldogs decided to go all-out, and close the season with a massive victory.
“It was a long break,” Bohane said. “To come off Holliston now, who we lost to in the Division 5 (South) finals, you always worry about that, will there be a hangover? I think there was a four to five-day period where I was like: ‘Jeez, I hope the kids bounce back.’ But then we got back around them again, and I could sense that they’re a very mature group. A lot of them play multiple sports, compete all the time. So, I could tell by the way they were acting, that we were going to be alright, we’d focus, prepare well.”
Seems like it. From that point forward, Canton scored 16 unanswered points. Owen Lehane drilled a 28-yard field goal to open the second half, then Gersom Rivera punched in a 9-yard touchdown run to make it a 23-8 contest.
When it came down to crunch time, Hagan delivered the decisive blow, hitting David Allen for a 9-yard touchdown pass to seal things, as the Bulldogs took a 30-8 advantage with 7:28 remaining in regulation.
“There’s a few of us that are going on to play in college,” Hagan said. “There’s 20 seniors, and I think 17 are going to be done. For us today, having 20 seniors I think really helped. We just wanted it more.”
Hagan finished with 99 yards passing, and rushed for 72 yards in the effort. Fitzgerald racked up a total of 120 total yards, to his credit.
Rahaman finished with 147 yards passing to lead Stoughton.
“It’s just been a crazy ride,” Hagan said. “Coming in, we had a ton of sophomore starters, beat Stoughton on Thanksgiving. Had a great year last year, South sectional finalists. This year, obviously the ultimate goal was a state championship. Holliston’s a good team, we lost to them. Stoughton? Afterward, all we wanted to do was beat Stoughton. So (we did).”
"Happy" - Google News
November 29, 2019 at 03:11AM
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Canton sends fans home happy with win over Stoughton - Boston Herald
"Happy" - Google News
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