It was a freezing Friday night at Turco Field on October 22 when the 6-0 Walpole Rebels Football Team faced off against the 5-1 Needham Rockets. The Rockets came into the game with the intention of beating the Rebels defense through the air. The Walpole defense covered Needham’s deep passes well and forced a three and out on the Rocket’s first possession. It was business as usual for senior quarterback Troy Salvatore and the Rebel offense as they marched down the field on a 71 yard drive, which ended with Salvatore running for a touchdown from four yards out. Senior kicker Tim Crowley tacked on the extra-point to make it 7-0. Needham responded with an impressive kickoff return that gave the Rockets the ball on the Walpole 40 yard line. Two plays later a Walpole personal foul penalty placed the ball on the Rebels 25. The Rockets tied the game with a 10 yard run.

Things started to take a turn for the worse when senior running back Kenny Woods mishandled a Salvatore hand-off, causing a fumble and a Needham recovery inside the red zone. A few plays later the Rockets quarterback hit junior Rockets tight end  Mark Riley on a 14 yard touchdown pass. The extra-point made the score 14-7 in favor of the Rockets as the first quarter came to a close.

The Walpole offense calmed down and got back into their groove, as Salvatore found junior wide receiver Craig Hanley for a big gain. The Rebels continued to move up the field and the drive came to an end when junior wide out Dave Thibault caught a Salvatore pass in the end zone for six points for the Rebels. The score was tied up at 14 a piece when Crowley nailed the extra-point. After the defense shut down the Rockets offense yet again, the Rebels continued their offensive dominance with yet another well-orchestrated drive. Woods finished the 52 yard drive off with a two yard touchdown rush. The Rebels couldn’t convert on the attempted two-point conversion, so the score would sit at 20-14. With only 12 seconds left before halftime, Salvatore added another seven points for Walpole as he hit senior Captain Dave Conroy on an 11 yard touchdown. The score at half was 27-14, as Crowley added on the extra-point for the Rebels.

The second half began with a wake up call for the Rebels as Needham finally started to amass a respectable drive. The drive was aided by a long pass to Needham’s Riley that took the Rockets offense to the Walpole 20 yard line. The drive would end there as the Walpole defense made a superb defensive stand, causing a turnover on downs while inside their 10 yard line. The Rockets defense showed some life and gave the ball back to the Needham offense who, on their ensuing drive, looked like they were going to score. It looked like the Rocket offense was going to score until Conroy tipped a pass that senior defensive end Andrew Mandeville intercepted. This interception swung the momentum from Needham to Walpole in a matter of seconds.

The fourth quarter saw the Rebels defense step up and consistently shut down the Rockets offense. Needham was on a solid drive in the middle of the fourth quarter , and they were slowly approaching the red zone. This is when the Rockets took a chance and tried a shot at the end zone, but senior safety Chris Norberg was there to snatch an interception on the Walpole two yard line. Norberg returned the interception for about 30 yards, giving the Rebels offense plenty of breathing room. The offense didn’t get anything going and was forced to punt it to Needham again.  Late in the fourth quarter Needham was hoping for a last second comeback, but Thibault put a stop to that. The junior cornerback picked off yet another Rocket pass, and the Rebels offense took a knee to end the game.

Walpole defeated Needham by a score of 27-14 and senior quarterback Troy Salvatore was given the Boston Globe’s weekly “High Five” acknowledgement for his two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in the game. The now 7-0 Rebels battle the 4-3 Natick Red and Blue at Natick this Friday night. Last year, the Red and Blue beat the Rebels and knocked Walpole out of a playoff berth; this year the Rebels hope to avenge their loss a year ago.