Masconomet overcomes Marblehead to win league crown, 45-42

BOXFORD For the first time ever the Northeast Conference runs through Masconomet Masco knocked off Marblehead - at Walt Roberts Field to capture its first NEC crown in scheme history accomplishing the feat in dramatic fashion by overcoming a -point first half deficit I was so proud of our fight disclosed Masco coach Patrick Sheehan who has brought new life to the undertaking over the past two seasons There were multiple times it looked like this encounter was out of reach but our kids never stopped fighting In a test of resilience and heart Masco took an inch-by-inch approach After trailing - in the second quarter then falling behind - with five-and-a-half minutes remaining it was going to take a series of miraculous plays to have a prayer at winning Enter Jack Fabiano The senior running back is going to be persona non grata in Marblehead and that is because of an unstoppable performance Fabiano s goal line touchdown with seconds remaining gave Masco its only lead of the night and the success It s the first time we ever beat Marblehead so we needed to play the tournament of our lives explained Fabiano yards rushing five TDs And we don t win this tournament without our line They opened up holes I was following senior linebacker Cam Bucchiere all night It was a real company win and we never stopped believing we could do it Marblehead - nearly detected a win to even the number With only seconds to play Finn Gallup made a -yard completion to Owen Coyne to put the Magicians within field goal range But the -yard attempt by Finbar Bresnehan sailed wide right and the Chieftains ultimately slayed a seemingly insurmountable opponent We just got handed a lesson disclosed Marblehead coach Jim Rudloff We made mental mistakes and physical mistakes because we were tired That s what bit us over the last five minutes And Masco did a great job So we need to take what happened and learn from it Masco - was led by an extremely hungry pack of seniors one that refused to lose their final contest against Marblehead That included senior receiver Cal Weidman who was instrumental in keeping the Chieftains alive All encounter we noted We re not losing to Marblehead disclosed Weidman receptions receiving yards All respect to Marblehead they re a great unit but we weren t losing this match Now we have a bye week another chance to prepare and we can focus on making a run in the state playoffs Masco senior quarterback Drew Gustafson remained poised throughout the comeback never allowing the deficit to rattle his offense This is the challenge that s circled on our calendar it s unlike any other noted Gustafson yards passing two TDs We weren t going to lose This was the last shot for the seniors and we took advantage of it The tide turned for Masco in the second half when the line imposed its will on both sides of the ball That included stellar performances from seniors Nico Stefanelli and Evan Velardo two of Masco s unsung heroes We won this encounter in the off-season with all the work we put in disclosed Stefanelli It means the world to me to be the first-ever NEC champs especially to do it with my teammates We wear Masco football with pride and we manifested the state who we are with this win A championship like this is hard to put into words announced Velardo It was hard fought on both sides of the line and it felt surreal to come back and win For Sheehan who takes pride in coaching life lessons to his players the triumph stands as a building block for his scheme and a chance to celebrate his crew s fortitude The kids fought through a tremendous amount of adversity announced Sheehan They earned this one It s one they re going to remember for a long time