On a chilly Friday night, the class of 2013’s football players—escorted by their parents—walked out to midfield to get ready to play their last game on Turco Field. The Rebels were coming into the game with an 8-0 record hoping to stay undefeated against a much weaker Dedham team who came into the game with a dire 1-7 record.
The Rebels started fast as they went straight to the air. On just his second pass attempt junior quarterback Will Bolster connected with sophomore wide receiver Andrew Papirio for a 55 yard score to put Walpole up 7-0. On Dedham’s opening drive they struggled to get anything started. They were up against Walpole’s dominating defense that has allowed a state’s best 4.1 points per game. Walpole forced Dedham to punt, and on the subsequent drive, they elected to go to their run game with their star backs—senior Captain Cam Hanley and junior Connor Moriarty. As they shared hand offs they helped Walpole drive down the field which was capped off by a 21 yard Moriarty score, putting Walpole up 13-0. On Dedham’s next drive they were forced to a three and out and, with special teams blunder, Walpole was set up inside the Dedham 30. The Rebels quickly took advantage of this: giving the ball to Hanley who eventually scored on a 10 yard run. Walpole continued to dominate the Marauders in the first half as Dedham failed to move the sticks. Moriarty and senior Chris Collins finished off the scoring in the first-half, giving Walpole a 33-0 lead at halftime.
With this big of lead the Rebels started taking out their starters in the beginning of the 3rd quarter to get the backups valuable playing time. As the backups began to play, the energy level, however, did not drop off as they continued to beat up on Dedham’s starters. The defense still did not allow Dedham to get first downs and the offense still moved the ball against their starters which is a testament to how well Walpole’s program is. To add on to the scoring spree, backup quarterback sophomore D.J. Villa scored on a 10 yard scamper to put Walpole up 40-0. As Walpole’s backup defense still stopped Dedham from advancing the ball, their offense quickly got the ball back. To end the scoring for senior night, fan-favorite senior Matt Cotter scored on a two yard run to end the game at 47-0.
This shutout marks the fifth straight for Walpole and their sixth overall. In this span, they have outscored their opponents 218-0, a state that is simply unbelievable. What also makes this hard to believe is they have been doing this without their star running back senior Captain Mike Rando and senior Aidan Lancaster who have both been out since October 12th. The Rebels hope to keep this streak alive when they go into next week’s game as they take on 8-1 Natick for the Bay State Crown.
