FOXBOROUGH – Following an ugly loss to BC High on October 18th, Xaverian had a soul-searching moment while sitting with a 3-3 record.
From that point on, the Hawks have looked like the defending D1 champs and on Thursday night at frigid Gillette Stadium, Xaverian made it back-to-back Super Bowl titles with a 14-7 win over previously unbeaten Needham.
The Hawks’ defense held the Rockets to 156 yards of total offense while Vincent Busa led the way for X on the other side with 140 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown.
Xaverian’s second straight title and 10th overall wraps up the season at 9-4. Needham’s magical run ended at 12-1.
“Our young men got on each other after the loss to BC High in the regular season,” Xaverian head coach Al Fornaro said postgame. “They were not happy and they blasted each other about the way we practice. Are you hurt, or are you injured? There’s a big difference and from that point forward, it was ‘hey, let’s go.’
“We saw it when we had the rematch with them and then going forth into the playoffs and then culminating tonight in a fantastic win…yes we had some loses, but a team is not defined by wins or by losses. It’s how you react to adversity. We had some adversity, straightened the boat out, had a nice little playoff run and here…all I’ve ever told the young men is you want to win the last game we play. Tonight was the last game we played and we won.”
Xaverian scored all 14 of its points in the first half, taking a 14-0 lead into the break.
After a Rockets three-and-out to open the game, the Hawks scored one play later when Will Wood (4-5, 105 yards) found a streaking Dave Chiavegato for an 81-yard TD. Luke Bell added the PAT. Needham took over at its own 36 with 8:36 left in the first and proceeded to go on a lengthy 17-play march that included two different fourth down conversions and ended with just 19 seconds left in the quarter. Unfortunately for the Rockets, it ended with an Alex Rufo 36-yard field goal getting blocked.
Six plays later after a lengthy Busa run, he punched in a two-yard touchdown to push the lead to 14-0. BC-bound defensive end Micah Amedee recovered a fumble for X one play after the ensuing kick off at the Needham 33, but the Hawks couldn’t do anything with it. Both teams ended up punting a couple times to end the first half.
“It feels good, it feels good to do it back-to-back,” said Amedee, who signed with BC on Wednesday. “Guys had to fill up big spots (after players departed from last year’s title winning team), like Will Wood…Vincent Busa playing running back…we picked up Dom Funke, that made it even easier for us to get back here.”
X opened up the third quarter with a three-and-out and the Rockets got on the board three plays later when Aidan Williams (13 carries, 58 yards) was left all alone coming out of the backfield and hauled in a 30-yard swing pass from Griffin Carr. Rufo added the PAT to cut it to 14-7.
Xaverian put together a 12-play drive down to the Needham 18 late in the third, but Nick Sewall came up with a massive interception at the Rockets’ seven. Needham couldn’t muster much offense up against the relentless pursuit of Xaverian’s big men up front – led by Amedee – and punted two more times in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets had one final chance after getting the ball back with 2:02 left at its own four, but a Shane Barry interception and a few kneel downs iced it and sent off a wild celebration both in the stands and on the field.
The Hawks soared low and under the radar all season long until it mattered most, now, they’re back on top of the mountain looking down at the rest of Division 1.
“We had about seven guys who played in that game (last year),” Fornaro added when asked how much the 2023 experience helped on Thursday night. “Kind of like the Hoosiers deal…like, ‘hey guys, it’s 120 yards long and 53 and 1/3 yards wide. Once that ball is snapped it doesn’t matter where you are. You’re playing football.
“I think for them, we didn’t have anybody staring at the Jumbotron and it was just go out and play football. Let’s prove to ourselves and everybody else that we are a team and in this situation, we’re Division 1 state champs. That’s pretty good.”
