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Foxborough Football Gets Momentum-Building Win Against Canton

The Foxborough Warriors were victorious against the Canton Bulldogs, winning 35-19.

Last week Foxborough found themselves in a midst of a 27-0 blowout to the Attleboro Blue Bombardiers. Eight days later, it was role reversal for the Warriors.

“It certainly was day and night between last Friday and today (Saturday),” said Foxborough Head Coach Jack Martinelli.

Led by a running game that trammeled the , the Warriors found themselves as the victors in a 35-19 win over the Bulldogs on Saturday.

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The difference in the Warriors could be seen from the opening play. Starting at the Foxborough 31 yard line, Kiivone Howard opened the game with a 69 yard run for a touchdown to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead 18 seconds into the game. 

“In the start of the game I was like, I just needed to set the tone and that’s what I did,” said Foxboro running back Kiivone Howard.

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Foxborough wasn’t done either. After recovering the ball off a Canton fumble the Warriors once again marched down the field. Getting a combined 25 yards rushing from Howard and Jeff McPherson, the Warriors found themselves at the Canton 10 yard line for a first and goal.

After two failed runs that went nowhere, Warriors quarterback Nick Sestito found wide receiver Greg Stamatov in the upper left corner of the end zone to extend the lead to 14-0 with 5 minutes left in the first quarter.

Unable to do anything with the ball, the Bulldogs were forced to punt to Foxborough who went to work at the Canton 38 yard line.

The good news for Canton on this drive was they didn’t have to worry about stopping Howard or McPherson. The bad news however was that Foxborough’s third back Brett Cresey was causing trouble for the Bulldogs. The senior running back helped the Warriors once again drive down field for a 9-yard touchdown run for Cresey and a 21-0 lead for the Warriors in the first quarter.

Unable to stop the run, the Bulldogs struggled to find answers for the Warriors running attack responsible for most of the team’s offense.

“I think that (Howard, McPherson, and Cresey) was the key to going up 21-0,” said Martinelli.

The tough start for the Bulldogs team was odd for a team that has experienced few problems against the run on defense. Facing an offense with three backs, the Bulldogs struggled to find answers to stop Foxborough.

“They had us defensively for the first time all season,” said Canton Coach Dan Bohane.

Unable to stop the run so far, the Bulldogs answered back by showing off their own running game. Canton quarterback Anthony Bires got the Bulldogs going in the second quarter with a 29 yard run from the Canton 44 to the Foxboro 27 for the first big Canton play of the game. Bires followed the run up with a 27-yard pass to Elias Camacho for the touchdown.

The Bulldogs quickly followed up the score with another one of their own. After getting the ball to the Foxboro 2 yard line off a 7 yard run by Dexter Green, Bires found the end zone with a QB keeper to make it a 21-13 game after the extra point attempt was wide.

It looked like the Warriors were ready to drive down the field again after a big throw from Sestito to Stamatov but the Warriors’ fumbled the ball after the catch to give Canton the ball back and end the half with the momentum swinging towards the Bulldogs.           

With the ball to start the second half, it took the Bulldogs only 5 plays to find the end zone.  Getting the ball to midfield, Green broke away to score on a 50-yard run and get the Bulldogs to within 2 points. It was a big day for Green who tried to get Canton back in the game with 96 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.

“He’s one of the premier backs I think in the Hockomock League large or small," said Bohane. “He plays hard. He leaves it all on the field and I’m not surprised by his great number from previous games or this game too.”

A failed two-point conversion allowed Foxborough to keep a 21-19 lead but needed to score fast to keep Canton from completing the comeback.

Holding off the Bulldogs for the remainder of the third quarter, the Warriors found themselves with a fourth and 10 at the Canton 15 yard line. Getting the field goal, the Warriors were given a chance for more points after a roughing  kicker penalty on Canton moved the ball to the Bulldogs’ 7-yard line and gave the Warriors a 1st and goal. Once again Howard found the end zone as he scored his second touchdown of the day and put the Warriors ahead 28-19.

Although they had a couple of good chances to get in the end zone, the Bulldogs couldn’t find a way to convert on fourth down or make the big third down plays needed to come back. A third touchdown after a 41 yard run from Howard put the game away and gave the Warriors a big 35-19 win.

In a league where all four of your divisional games matter and one loss can cost you a trip to the post season, it was a big win for the Warriors while the Bulldogs could not build on the momentum from last week’s close game against North Attleboro.           

 “I thought it was an important game for both teams. Foxborough came out and got out to a great start,” said Bires.  “I thought we were jacked up. I thought we would get off to a good start, didn’t happen.”

Leading the game without a doubt was the Foxborough rushing attack. Howard led the way with a game high 194 yards and 3 touchdowns. McPherson was not far behind with 172 yards rushing. Cresey had 42 yards with a touchdown. The three combined for 409 rushing, the best performance by the team all season.

“I don’t think they expected Kiivone to be anything but east-west but he’s special 22,” said Martinelli on Howard’s performance.

In addition to his performance on the ground, Dexter Green also had 53 yards receiving. Quarterback Anthony Bires had 67 yards rushing along with 91 yards throwing and a touchdown through the air. Elias Camacho had 41 yards receiving with 1 touchdown.

With the win Foxborough improves to 2-2 and 1-0 inside the Davenport Division. The win puts them in a tie with Stoughton for first place inside the Davenport Division. Canton is now 2-2 and 0-1 in the Davenport Division.

It will be a short week for both teams. Due to Yom Kippur starting on Friday evening, both teams will play Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. The Warriors will host the Franklin Panthers at the Ahern Field while the Attleboro Blue Bombardiers will pay a visit to Memorial Field to play Canton High.

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