By Colby Shannon
NEFJ Correspondent

MANSFIELD – With the game on the line Friday night, Mansfield made the bold decision to go for two in the final moments rather than tying the game, which didn’t come as a big surprise to North Attleboro head coach Mike Strachan.

“You don’t get to be a 5-0 team without taking a couple of risks,” Strachan said.

Mansfield, who had not held the lead since the first quarter, turned to its star quarterback, Gio Scarpellini to finish the job. He took the snap, faked the hand-off, and rolled to his left, but quickly felt the pressure of Joseph Ruggiero, who deflected the pass.

As the ball hit the ground, North had officially claimed the victory, with the scoreboard reading 28-27.

Down went the undefeated Hornets in a Hockomock League upset, while the Rocketeers advanced to 4-2.

“It’s a good football team; it’s a Hockomock League contest,” said Strachan. “We really had to play our best football to even be in the game.”

However, the game started very differently, as it felt like things were going to go in the opposite direction for the Big Red, who gave up the first score to Mansfield following a three-and-out on its first drive. The Hornets capitalized, firing deep, with Scarpellini finding junior star John Butler for a 45-yard touchdown. Butler advanced the ball up the field and broke a couple of tackles on his way into the end zone.

North Attleboro proved that the Hornets defense, which entered the game pitching three shutouts and averaging just 4.4 points per game, wasn’t going to dictate this outcome. Relying on an aggressive performance in the run game, the Rocketeers found an opening, and Ruggiero took advantage of an open 49 yards on the left side of the field to tie the game at seven apiece just 1:38 into the second quarter.

On its next drive, North Attleboro, facing a third down in its own territory, relied on those same tactics. This time, it was the dual-threat quarterback, Nathaniel Robin (junior), who ran for 82 yards down the left sideline.

“The O-line opened up the hole, and I just gotta hit it,” Robin explained.

With 2:32 remaining in the first half, North Attleboro held a one-touchdown advantage. Butler decided not to let his team go flat into the half, putting all of his effort into a clutch kick return that put the Hornets in enemy territory.

From this point forward, it was Scarpellini’s time to shine. First, he connected with Caden Harte for a 33 yard gain that put his offense at the 12. That was followed by a pair of rushes from the senior quarterback that brought the game to a tie. Scarpellini’s one-yard rushing touchdown was his fifth score on the ground this year.

Both teams went into halftime with 14 points, but for the Big Red, that score provided a glimpse of what was to come in the second half, as the most points Mansfield had given up in a game prior to Friday was 14.

That confidence carried over into the second half and was executed immediately by Robin. The junior kept the ball and brought it right; he was almost caught — but never taken down. Robin stumbled his way 51 yards, extending at the last second in the end zone to put North on top once more. It was his second long rushing touchdown of the day.

“On paper, they’re Mansfield. They’re a good team,” said Robin. “But we came out here, we had more heart.”

The Hornets knew that if they were going to win, they’d have to do it in an unfamiliar style — playing from behind.

Mansfield methodically drove three quarters of the field in an attempt to take the lead. After two big completions to Harte, Butler finished the job with a three-yard rush to make the score even for a third time as 21s lit up the scoreboard entering the fourth.

North Attleboro, who just experienced a two-score loss to King Philip a week ago, kept its foot on the pedal.

Faced with multiple fourth downs within field goal distance, Redding played it aggressively. First, it was a 4th-and-4 that was converted on a 7-yard catch by Ryan Gustafson. Then, a delay-of-game penalty pushed the Rocketeers back to a 4th-and-5.

Robin, met with immense adversity, rolled to his left, attracted a defensive back who was threatened by the young quarterback’s ability to run with it and replaced the defender with a pass to a wide-open Milo House. With under six minutes remaining, North Attleboro, once again, took the lead by seven.

The game wasn’t over yet, as the Hornets attempted a game-winning drive, moving themselves downfield.

Using both the air and ground — Scarpellini’s arm and legs — Mansfield made its way inside the 20-yard line. Then, a pair of rushes from Scarpellini and Butler put the ball on the three.

During a timeout on third down, an assistant coach ran up to the official, alerting the referee that Mansfield planned to go for two after they scored. Sure enough, Scarpellini faked the handoff in a jumbo package and found an open Cole Hogencamp.

With their backs to the wall and 1:22 remaining, the Big Red defense put up a big stand and gave Mansfield its first notch in the loss column.

“Nobody believes in us. We all believed in each other,” shared Robin.

“Our group needed it today. We needed to play our best football,” Strachan added “We needed to know that we can grind and do the things that we do well.”