Attleboro Falls in D1 South Title Game to Xaverian

The Attleboro Blue Bombardiers’ playoff run came to an end Saturday afternoon after a game of offense went in favor of the Xaverian Hawks.

Despite holding a 21-7 lead in the third quarter, the Blue Bombardiers fell to the Hawks 35-28 in the MIAA Division 1 South Section title game.

The Hawks will now play Central Catholic in the Division 1 Championship at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 7

While Attleboro was unable to maintain possession during the first quarter, the defense held strong as three Xaverian drives resulted in a punt, an interception, and a missed field goal.

Despite pressure from the Attleboro defense, the Hawks would take a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 48-yard Coby Tippett reception.

The lead would not last long as quarterback Tim Walsh took advantage of a free play on the next drive and found a heavily covered Brendan Massey for a 32-yard touchdown to tie the game with 3:55 remaining in the half.

Xaverian struggled to get anything going on their next possession with Jake Farrell throwing an interception to Ryan Bowen at the Attleboro 41-yard line.

Facing fourth and five at the Xaverian 41-yard line, Walsh’s pass to Luke Morrison down the right sideline setup a first and goal at the six yard line. Morrison would strike again, catching a six-yard touchdown pass with 36 seconds in the half.

Wasting no time extending the lead, a 38-yard pass to Thomas Burns on Attleboro’s opening drive of the second half made it a 21-7 game.

The Hawks however, would not stay down for long. Relying on running back Shayne Kaminiski (200 yards rushing), Xaverian would enter the fourth quarter down seven after Kaminski powered his way though the Attleboro defense.

Xaverian almost tied the game early in the fourth quarter, driving deep into Attleboro territory. Faced with a fourth and goal at the two-yard line, Kenny Kern was unable to find the end zone, giving the ball back to the Blue Bombardiers.

With the Attleboro offense not clicking in the final quarter, Xaverian would score three touchdowns in the fourth quarter that gave the Hawks enough separation to take the title.

With great field position after an Attleboro punt, the Hawks tied the game off Kaminski’s second rushing touchdown of the game from the 37-yard line with 6:32 left in the game.

After another short Attleboro drive, the Hawks took their first lead since 7-0 with a 53-yard pass to Nick Colantuoni with 5:47 left in the game.

Xaverian almost put the game away after AJ King returned an interception for a touchdown but Damon Belin’s 18-yard touchdown pass kept Attleboro only down by a score with 3:46 left in the game.

Unable to stop the Hawks’ run offense, Attleboro was nearly helpless as Xaverian ran out the lock en route to the South Sectional title.

Attleboro is now off until their annual Thanksgiving match-up against North Attleboro.