I've seen a lot of Thanksgiving Day football games over the years, and I'd be lying to you if I said I remember something about every one of them. I can guarantee, however, that it wouldn't take much to shake some of those memories loose from beneath whatever nook or cranny of my brain where they might be buried. I don't think it's going to take that much effort to remember the game I covered on Thursday. Was Attleboro's 12-10 victory over North Attleboro the best Thanksgiving game I ever covered? Probably not. I don't know if I could come up with the best on short notice - although Norton's 1985 victory over West Bridgewater in the snow and rain would rate highly because the conditions were just plain ridiculous and the stakes were high for the Lancers, seeking their first-ever Super Bowl appearance.
But in this year's resumption of the AHS-North game, two evenly-matched teams were playing for pride and the restoration of a heartbeat in a rivalry desperately in need of a shot of adrenaline. And both teams delivered. Thirteen years is a long time. I had just entered my 40s the last time Attleboro had won on Thanksgiving; some of the athletes I'm covering this year were still in diapers when that happened.
To the seniors of this year's teams, in North Attleboro they knew nothing but victory, and in Attleboro, nothing but defeat. That's not the course for a healthy rivalry to take. Indeed, until the last few years, it was beginning to look as if only one of our local rivalries, the Mansfield-Foxboro series, was still healthy and vital.
But Seekonk has now won three out of four in a series that was dominated for 16 years by Dighton-Rehoboth. King Philip stopped a four-game losing streak to Franklin this year. Norton, in winning its first Tri-Valley League title since returning to the league in 2002, also posted its first victory over Bellingham since the series was revived (and since Norton's last win by a point in 1969). And when Mike Barry took a knee at his own 32-yard-line to run out the clock Thursday at Tozier-Cassidy Field, the last of the long winless streaks went by the board. For those who believe that Attleboro, as a small city, does not celebrate its football victories as vigorously as some of our smaller towns, the example to convince you otherwise was there to be seen as the Bombardiers fell to their knees and bade farewell to the weight of 13 years of frustration when the clock ticked over to 0:00.
People cheered and hugged and danced about in the stands as they accepted the almost-unbelievable notion that victory could be celebrated in a shade of blue as well as red.
One of the happiest sights was that of Attleboro coach Kevin Deschenes hugging his players as realization set in. Perhaps nobody in our area has worked as long and as hard to accomplish something as Deschenes, and often without the appreciation of those who were content to sit back and complain about Attleboro's fortunes from behind the curtain of anonymity. That curtain has now shifted a few miles to the north. Already, at least one anonymous individual, presumably an adult, has cast aspersions upon the North Attleboro coaching staff on our Web site, claiming that his town does not "tolerate" defeat on the holiday. People take these games far too seriously sometimes. It's good to approach the games with a certain level of commitment and seriousness, but it's equally good to leave behind the rancor and anger that may accompany defeat once the game is over.
Surely, Thursday's result may have been a bitter pill for some from North Attleboro to swallow, as accustomed to victory as they are in that community. But even the most hard-core Rocketeers will understand at some point that total domination of a series, while desirable, isn't necessarily good for the spirit of the series. And I wouldn't be surprised if many red-clad rooters, despite their short-term disappointment, may secretly be glad that competitiveness has been returned to the rivalry. Simply stated, a healthy respect for one's opponent and his capabilities is a good thing. It's also more fun.
Members of the Attleboro High School football team celebrate their thrilling, last-minute victory over Bridgewater-Raynham on Friday night. (Staff photo by Tom Maguire) Bombardiers rally past B-R
Members of the Attleboro High School football team celebrate their thrilling, last-minute victory over Bridgewater-Raynham on Friday night. (Staff photo by Tom Maguire) Bombardiers rally past B-R
ATTLEBORO - It took a truly amazing finish to keep a memorable season on track. A high punt snap and Matty Campbell's 14-yard return of the recovery with 42 seconds left to play propelled the undefeated Attleboro High School football team to a thrilling, 26-21 verdict over Bridgewater-Raynham in the Old Colony League opener for both teams Friday night.
Campbell, the burly junior running back and linebacker, was part an onrushing horde of Blue Bombardiers who saw a miracle in the making at Tozier-Cassidy Field when the punt snap sailed out of the grasp of B-R quarterback and punter Kevin Bumpus, standing near his own 25-yard-line. It skittered away and Attleboro won the race to it.
"Maz (linebacker Nick Mazurkiewicz) made a really great hit on that play," Campbell said. "So the ball just came out and I was the one to get it. I was the lucky one."
Having already scored two touchdowns, on a 70-yard pass from Mike Barry with 4:34 left in the first quarter and a 1-yard run with 3:22 left in the third, Campbell (124 all-purpose yards) scooped up the ball at the 14 and was not going to be caught, putting the Bombardiers (5-0, 1-0) back in front for the first time since 4:50 left in the first half. But the Trojans (2-4, 0-1) still had life in them, helped in part by a celebration penalty assessed to Attleboro on the Campbell touchdown.
Taking over on the Attleboro 45, Bumpus completed a 44-yard prayer to John Dunmore at the AHS 12 and tried to go to him again in the left corner of the end zone, but Attleboro's Mike Reardon swatted the ball away as time expired. "We've all come together as a team," Campbell said. "We're playing together as a family."
Attleboro seemed poised to run away with the game from the start, scoring first on Tyler McCarthy's 73-yard sweep around left end just 20 seconds into the game. But the Trojans responded 41/2 minutes later on a pass from Bumpus to Sean Reagan in the right corner of the end zone from 6 yards out, ending an eight-play drive. Barry (8-12, 170 yards, one TD, 137.5 NFL passer rating) found Campbell over the middle just two plays later to put the Bombardiers back in front with 4:34 left, but B-R's Jake Williams (29 carries, 188 yards) broke a draw play for 44 yards with 4:50 left in the half to send the teams into the lockers tied at 14-14. Williams carried on five of the six plays in B-R's half-opening scoring drive, gaining 49 yards including the last 12, off right tackle, for a 21-14 lead. Barry quickly responded, completing passes of 25 and 15 yards to Ryan Araujo to set up Campbell's 1-yard TD run on the ensuing AHS possession, but the Trojans blocked Araujo's PAT to preserve a one-point lead with 3:22 left in the third quarter.
McCarthy's interception with 8:31 left in the game gave Attleboro a chance to reclaim the lead, and the Bombardiers drive methodically from their own 25 to the B-R 21. But the drive stalled when a pass interference call on a throw to Araujo was inexplicably waved off on third-and-9 at the 21, then Barry's next throw to him was tipped away by B-R's Mike Chicoine.
The Trojans got the ball with 3:17 left and managed one first down, but a curious bootleg call for Bumpus on third-and-6 at the 36 gained just 3 yards, forcing a punt - and the rest was nothing short of miraculous for the Bombardiers.
"It's been a long time coming," AHS coach Kevin Deschenes said. "The kids never gave up. That's why we tell them to play 44 minutes of football. We took advantage of an opportunity that they gave us, and we made the most of it." The Campbell recovery and return was Attleboro's third scoop-and-score touchdown of the season. "It's just a first step," said Deschenes. "We've got Taunton coming next week and they're very good. It's going to be a challenge every week we just knew we had to rise to the next level."
# 7 Tyler McCarthy