Sports

Four Straight Second Half INTs Give Colonials Rout Over Westford Academy

Acton-Boxborough gave up an early lead to their archrivals, but a series of Westford miscues in the third quarter ultimately gave the Colonials a 48-24 victory.

If only one could pick and choose portions of a football game. Alas, such was not the case for the Westford Academy Grey Ghosts on Friday night in Acton.

Despite three touchdowns, including one on the very first play of the game from a 69 yard scamper by Ben Rodman, Westford Academy was unable to keep pace with archrival Acton-Boxborough, falling 48-24 in what was their third loss of the season.

Rodman ended the night with 192 yards, but while the Grey Ghosts relied largely on just Rodman outside of a score in the first half from Tyler Arsenault, the Colonials had a wide array of threats ranging from William Tejada’s multiple touchdowns, to a series of hardnosed first downs from Gabe Cormier to key catches by Tom Saponaro.

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Westford got out to an early 10-0 lead, and was able to keep the game close after they fell behind midway through the second quarter. The Ghosts took momentum from a red zone stop just before the half that eventually led to a 34-yard reception by Brett Fitzgerald, putting Westford within a score of taking back the lead.

And then Westford gave up four straight interceptions, including two to J.T. Kelly, leading to 21 unanswered points and enough momentum for what appeared on the scoreboard as an easy victory for the Colonials.

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“We were in it to play a whole football game, we had bits and pieces, we’ve just got to put it all together,” said Westford Academy head coach Adam Gagne.

The two teams traditionally meet on Thanksgiving rather than the third week of the year, but Gagne stressed his emphasis that rivalry or not, this was just another game, and his team’s thoughts won’t be on revenge back home on Turkey Day, but on evening up their Dual County League record against Waltham.

On the other sideline, the rivalry win was also overshadowed by the mere fact that the Colonials were able to erase some memories they received a week earlier in a 41-6 trashing at the hands of Troy Flutie’s high powered Natick attack.

“After the first quarter we were pretty good,” said Acton-Boxborough head coach Bill Maver.  “We played with a sense of urgency once we fell behind; we’ve got to play like that from the beginning.”

Now at 2-1, the Colonials continue their Dual County League schedule with a home contest against Newton South, which Maver believes may give Acton-Boxborough problems given their revamped roster.

The Ghosts will take on that Newton South squad at home on Oct. 11, after next week’s home contest against Waltham. 

 


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