The Walpole High Football Team faced their usual foe, Weymouth, on Thanksgiving Day at Weymouth High School in a game that had the Bay State Conference Title up for grabs. Both teams were undefeated entering the game and both had already clinched playoff berths, since the Weymouth Wildcats won the Bay State League Carey Division. Although hopes were high for Walpole, these hopes quickly diminished when the game began.
Walpole received the ball at the start of the first half, but the Rebels offense couldn’t get anything going as they fumbled and Weymouth recovered the ball on the Walpole 28 yard line. Several plays later, the Wildcats scored on a touchdown pass and with the extra point good the score stood at 7-0, Weymouth on top. The second quarter was more bad news for the Rebels as one of senior quarterback Troy Salvatore’s passes was intercepted. The interception set up an easy score for the Wildcats, who improved their lead to 14-0. Weymouth scored again to start the second half and going into the fourth quarter the score stood at 21-0 in favor of Weymouth. In the fourth quarter Walpole’s offense finally started to click when Salvatore found senior wide receiver Dave Conroy in the end zone. The extra-point was no good, so the final score was Weymouth 21, Walpole 6. With this loss, the Weymouth Wildcats captured the Bay State Conference Title.
The Rebels could not dwell on this loss for long though, as they faced off against the Mansfield Hornets in the MIAA Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday, November 30. Both the Rebels and the Hornets were 10-1 entering the game, as Mansfield had lost their season opener against a team from New York. Hopes were high for the Walpole players as they wanted to return to Gillette Stadium for the Division 2 Super Bowl after a one year hiatus. These hopes quickly faded when, on the Rebels’ first possession, the Mansfield defense forced a turnover on downs with the Rebels on the Hornet 1 yard line. The second quarter looked like another defensive struggle, that was until three minutes remained until halftime. It was at this time when Mansfield scored on a 24 yard touchdown pass, making the score 7-0. Walpole’s offense went three-and-out, but when the Hornets got the ball back they came down the field and scored, again, on a 42 yard touchdown throw. Frustration became obvious when Salvatore’s pass was intercepted by a Mansfield cornerback and returned all the way to Walpole’s 3 yard line. A 2 yard touchdown run for Mansfield put them up 21-0 as the second quarter ended.
Mansfield came out flying for the start of the second half as they marched down the field and scored on a 10 yard pass play that gave them a 28-0 lead. Near the end of the third quarter, the Rebels offense got some life in it when Salvatore hit sophomore Mike Rando with a nice deep ball. The fourth quarter began and Walpole could not capitalize on this good play because they turned the ball over on downs on the 13 yard line of Mansfield. The Hornets just ran the clock out for the remainder of the game. The final score of the game was Mansfield 28 to Walpole 0.
Although the Rebels ended the season on a bad note, they still accomplished a lot during the 2010 season. They won the Herget Division and got revenge on Natick as well. Leading the team next year will be junior Captain-elects Dan King, Craig Hanley, Dave Thibault, and Dan Woods. It is certain that with these new leaders, the 2011 Football Team will look to improve over the off-season in order to secure a spot in next year’s Super Bowl.
