91-yard fumble return highlights Hull football team's season-opening win at Blue Hills

CANTON – It was only late Friday afternoon of Week 1 of the high school football season and we already had a strong contender for Defensive Play of the Year on the South Shore.

It was a John Gianibas-Austin Bongo collaboration.

To set the stage, Hull's 14-0 lead – built on a trick play and a fumble return for a score – appeared to be in mortal danger of being cut in half as Blue Hills' wing-T offense was finally stirring to life with halftime fast approaching. The Warriors had methodically (as they often do) marched down the field, chewing up 76 yards in 13 plays to set up a second-and-goal from the Pirates' 1.

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Then, disaster struck. At least from the hosts' perspective.

Gianibas, senior safety, burst through the line, flattening Blue Hills quarterback Brayden Mahoney as he was turning his back to make a handoff. The ball popped loose, and Bongo, a 6-foot-3 senior linebacker, scooped it up and raced untouched 91 yards for a back-breaking TD. Logan Chenette's third PAT gave Hull a stunning 21-0 lead with 44 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Pirates went on to a 35-12 win that seemed easy – they were up 35-0 midway through the third quarter – but who knows how the script might have changed if Blue Hills had cashed in right before intermission?

"I give credit to Blue Hills; those guys are tough up front," Hull coach Mike O'Donnell said. "They grind it down the field. That's what they did to us that drive. We caught a break. A guy came free on a blitz, we made contact, ball came free. We have some really good athletes on our team and the one who might be the best athlete picks it up and goes."

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It was a busy day for both Gianibas and Bongo, two of the stars of last season's breakthrough 9-4 campaign for the Pirates that concluded with a loss to Randolph in the Division 8 state final at Gillette Stadium.

Gianibas scored on a 37-yard fumble return in the first quarter and also found time to rush 11 times for 112 yards. (He also had an apparent 68-yard TD run nullified by a holding penalty.) Of his momentum-changing hit, he said, "I told my middle linebacker, Aidan (Murphy), that I was going to blitz the 'A' gap because the center was focusing on him."

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After Gianibas dislodged the ball, Bongo was in the right place at the right time. He stumbled briefly but was essentially in the clear from the moment he picked up the ball. Caiden Montas of Blue Hills gave chase, but he was hopelessly outnumbered – Bongo had a boatload of Pirates running with him – and had far too much ground to make up.

"John set up the play perfectly for me," Bongo said. "He came in off the opposite side, punched out the ball, he hit-sticked the ball-carrier. It dropped right in front of me. All I had to do was run and not get caught."

Bongo opened the scoring by catching a 64-yard TD pass from fellow receiver Nick Tiani (that was the trick play) and then hauled in a 17-yard TD pass from QB Luke Richardson in the third quarter that pushed the lead to 28-0. He finished with 3 catches for 119 yards and chipped in a pair of tackles, all while playing on a slightly injured ankle that required a postgame ice wrap.

"I didn't get to play as much as I wanted to with my ankle," he said. "I was limited today. Hopefully next week I'll be back to 100 percent."

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Bongo's scoop-and-score was an obvious gut punch to the Warriors.

"They anticipated the snap count," second-year coach Ed Madden said. "It's a good, heads-up play by them. I've got a sophomore guard and a junior guard and a sophomore quarterback; I think it was good for them (to face that adversity). It's an opportunity to teach these guys how to improve."

Blue Hills was 11-2 last year and won the small-school state vocational bowl but suffered heavy graduation losses and probably needs more time to hit its stride.

"The varsity game speed is a little different for some of the younger guys who were in," Madden said. "I think they learned a lot today. We can all improve. We're excited to watch the film and teach and learn."

After Hull subbed out many of its defensive starters, Mahoney threw a pair of 24-yard TD passes – to senior tight ends Shane Draper and Rhys Draper. The first was floated along the left sideline to the 2 to Shane Draper, who muscled his way in. The second was to the right side on a catch-and-run.

"That was good for him," Madden said of Mahoney, who is replacing Anthony Graziano. "Sophomore quarterback, first game, two touchdown passes. I think it's bittersweet for him today. I think it was a bittersweet start."

Blue Hills, which had three individual 1,000-yard rushers last season, ran 34 times for 245 yards in this one – a healthy 7.2-yard average – led by Jake Reissfelder (16-89), Montas (11-73) and Aidan Landers (6-59). But several big runs came well after the game had been decided. In all, it was good start for Hull's interior run defense, which got worn down by Randolph in the state final.

Getting stronger between the tackles was an offseason goal for the Pirates.

"It's the same thing. It's the same formula (Randolph used against us), and people are going to do it to us until we stop it," O'Donnell said of Blue Hills' offensive approach. "When push came to shove, we bent, bent, bent (but didn't break) and came up with plays."

Hull forced four turnovers total – Tyler Sordillo (fumble recovery) and Tommy Burke (interception) joined Gianibas and Bongo in that department.

"Lose the ball four times," Madden said. "It's tremendously difficult to maintain control of a football game when that happens."

Burke capped Hull's scoring binge with a 7-yard TD run in the third quarter, and Murphy logged a team-high 10 tackles.

A rematch with Randolph looms on Sept. 30, but the Pirates' immediate focus is next week's home opener vs. Cardinal Spellman.

"We can't get too high on ourselves," Bongo cautioned. "We definitely have a tough opponent next week in Cardinal Spellman so we have to keep the momentum going. That'll be a good game, a good test for our first home game."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Hull rides 91-yard fumble return for TD to win over Blue Hills