Marcus Thurston carries Archbishop Williams High football to hard-fought win over Spellman

BROCKTON – If Wednesday was a glimpse into the future of the Archbishop Williams High football team, then expect to hear junior Marcus Thurston’s name called a lot next season.

The Pembroke resident was a true workhorse in a 14-7 win over Cardinal Spellman that evens the Thanksgiving rivalry at 12 victories apiece. Thurston nearly doubled his season-high with 34 carries (his previous high was 19) and finished with a career-high 177 yards and one touchdown.

“Marcus is a dog,” said Archbishop Williams senior captain Matt Kowalski, who was the Bishops' Gravy Bowl MVP. "He’s going to rush for 1,000 yards next year. He’s a great kid, works super hard. He’s going to lead the team really well next year.”

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Thurston was at the center of a 15-play, 66-yard scoring drive in the second quarter. On that drive, he ran eight times for 39 yards and finished the drive with a 2-yard TD run to tie the score at 7-7.

"I knew we were going to run the ball because we had a great line and a great fullback (Shawn Harrington),” said Thurston. “(A 15-play drive) makes you feel really, really good when your line can bully the other team like that. We have a great line, a great fullback, it’s all on them.”

Tommy Russell (Dorchester), Aidan Walsh (Scituate) and Adam McLaughlin (Dorchester) led the way on the offensive line for the Bishops.

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The Bishops (5-6) looked like they could be the team getting bullied on the opening drive. The Cardinals (3-8) took the opening kick and marched nine plays for 67 yards. Junior quarterback Jack Duffy capped the drive with a 6-yard TD run and then added the extra point to put the Cardinals up 7-0 with 6:45 remaining in the quarter.

Defenses step up

Following the opening drive, the Bishops' defense buckled down and only gave up 116 yards for the rest of the game. Williams forced three turnovers on downs, and both Harrington (Weymouth) and senior Aidan Richard (Pembroke) recovered fumbles to end Spellman drives.

Spellman coughed up a deflating turnover before the first-half break. The Cardinals moved deep into Bishop territory behind the running of Duffy and Brian Gallagher, and were perched at the 26 following a 10-yard pass from Duffy to senior Jouvenson Romulous. But on the next play, Harrington recovered a fumble at his own 18. The Bishops' shot at scoring before the half was derailed thanks to a sack from Spellman junior Luke McSharry.

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"We drove the ball up and down the field, just on the critical downs when you had to have it, we didn’t execute,” said Spellman coach Kahn Chace. “We fumbled the ball and we didn’t execute our blocking assignments on critical downs.”

After Williams’ 15-play drive, the Cardinals buckled down. The Cardinals forced three turnover on downs in their own territory.

Key fourth downs

There were only two fourth downs Spellman’s defense couldn’t get off the field for in the second half.

The first was the deciding touchdown. On a fourth-and-4, quarterback Will LeClair (Duxbury) completed a short pass to Kowalski past the first-down marker, but the receiver from Weymouth found a lane and shed some tacklers for a 15-yard TD. Kowalski had hauled in what appeared to be a 69-yard TD pass from LeClair on the Bishops' third offensive play, but that was taken off the board for a block-in-the-back penalty.

Junior Jack Paula (Randolph) added the extra point to put the Bishops up, 14-7, with 2:03 remaining in the third quarter.

“I saw the corner was outside shading, he was facing in,” said Kowalski of his TD. "I had a comeback (route) and I kind of just stopped it short. I knew that I had the first down. I knew the outside linebacker is a pretty good player, No. 2 (Duffy). He was going to fly out at me, so I made a move on him and I just thought to myself, ‘I had to score.’ When the safety came down, I just decided all or nothing right here, I’ve got to truck him, it worked.”

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The Bishops' final drive, outside of one kneeldown to kill the final 2.3 seconds on the clock, lasted 11 plays and took the clock from 6:43 to 1:15. Thurston carried the ball nine times for 42 yards on the drive. The key play came on a fourth-and-2, when LeClair dropped back to pass and scrambled five yards to the Spellman 21 while staying inbounds. The drive ended at the 3 with an incomplete pass in the end zone, but the Cardinals had a long field to go without a timeout.

“I’m proud of the kids, we’ve got a great of seniors,” said Williams coach Matt Reggiannini. "My captains are awesome kids. We’ve had some injuries early on, some bad breaks but I’m happy with the way it ended. We really have a classy group of seniors and I’m happy for them they get to go out with a win.”

The Cardinals didn’t go down without a fight on the final drive. Duffy completed passes to Romulous (7 and 17 yards) and JJ Colon (10) to get into Williams territory in the closing moments. A second-down sack by Richard moved the Cardinals just beyond midfield, before two consecutive incompletions sealed a Bishop win.

"The entire season, no matter the score, they don’t quit and they keep playing football,” said Chace. “That says a lot about their character.

“I like the fight in our guys.”

Playoff potential

Both teams were seeded high enough in the power ratings to qualify for the Division 6 playoffs, but both teams finished a win shy of the three-win minimum. Williams was seeded at No. 9 while Spellman was at No. 14.

“These two teams are probably better than some of the teams that made the playoffs, but that just goes to show you in our league every week you have to be on your game,” said Chace. “If you can get to three wins, with our strength of schedule, you’re going to get into the playoffs. Our goal next year is to win three games and get in the playoffs.”

“This is the biggest game of the year,” said Reggiannini. “We always prepare for this game. Spellman was tough, I give them a lot of props. They were coached well, they played really aggressive against us. Their quarterback is a very good player and we just made that extra play.”

Senior Salute

Zack McBrine, a senior captain, was selected as Spellman’s MVP of the game after the final whistle.

On the Williams side, it was the final game for captains Kowalski and Harrington.

“Our captains are great kids,” said Reggiannini. “They both came in as middle-school students when we first started our middle-school (program), so they’ve been with me for five or six years. They’re like my kids. They’re both two different personalities but they’re both really great kids.”

Making up the senior class for Williams is LeClair, Kowalski, Jake Dreyfus, Harrington, Dario Boncaldo, Adam McLaughlin, Aidan Walsh and Richard.

“I absolutely love it here,” said Kowalski. “I’ve been here for five years. This is my fifth Thanksgiving game.

“I’m probably going to cry my eyes out when I get home but I absolutely love it here. I love my brothers, I love coach Reg, it’s a real good family.”

Making up the senior class for Spellman is McBrine, Tyler Hrenko, Matt Grafton, Joe Small, Ryan Brise, Kenton Porte, Aidan Taitt, Cameron Couburn, Mikey Mayo, Brendan Needle, Nick Walsh and Romulous.

“It’s tough right after a game but I do see the positive things in the program,” said Chace. “If you go back to Fall II, the score was (43-6 for Williams). It was a one-score football game (tonight) and there were plenty of chances to win the game, I think the younger kids know that. They bought in. I feel bad for the seniors, I wish they could have went out with a win, but they had some memorable times and some positive endings. Going forward I do think that we have a bright future.”

Cardinals on the climb

Spellman lost their first six games of the season before stunning St. Mary’s of Lynn in a 22-20 overtime win. The Spartans' only other loss came against Abington in the Div. 6 semifinal. That upset, which might have been the biggest in the state this season, sparked a three-game winning streak.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Archbishop Wiliams defeats Cardinal Spellman