It wasn't pretty, but Blackstone Valley Tech advances out of Division 6 first round

UPTON − Blackstone Valley Tech football coach Anthony Landini wasn’t particularly happy with how his team played on Saturday, but despite all the penalties, turnovers and busted chunk plays on defense, junior running back Adam Fransen has been nothing but stellar since joining senior captain Jayden Roderigues in the backfield.

After fumbling away the ball on Valley Tech’s opening possession, Fransen rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns while adding four catches for 79 yards and a score to help lead the fifth-seeded Beavers to a 33-21 victory over No. 12 Arlington Catholic in a Division 6 state tournament first-round game at Postma Field.

“A win is a win,” said Fransen, a full-time defensive back who didn’t start playing on offense until the fifth game this season. “We’re happy with that. We definitely have to clean it up. We’ll get back to that in practice, and then we’ll get back to where we were.”

Valley Tech, which has won five straight after an 0-3 start without scoring a point, hosts 13th-seeded Cardinal Spellman next Saturday in a quarterfinal.

“I’m happy for the kids to get the ‘W’, especially the seniors − they deserve it,” Landini said. “They get another game. It felt like a loss. We made little mistakes. Too many false starts. The offsides penalties kept our defense on the field for another 20 plays.

"If we play like we did today, we’re going to get wiped off the field," he added. "Luckily, it’s all fixable stuff, which is good. Cardinal Spellman is fast. They look fast on film. Our D-line has a motor, too. We’ve got to get them ready to go.”

Valley Tech also received a steady performance from backup quarterback Alex Vosburgh. The 6-foot, 155-pound sophomore made his first career varsity start in place of classmate Alexander Burgos, who is out 4-6 weeks while recovering from a broken collarbone.

Vosburgh completed 10 of 15 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.

“A little bit, but I knew I had guys behind me who can push the ball and do good things on offense and defense,” Vosburgh said when asked if he was nervous during the game. “I feel like I played pretty good. Every week I feel like I’m throwing a lot better.

“Our confidence is high,” Vosburgh added. “Hopefully, we’ll make something of (the postseason). A lot of stuff to clean up. We’ll get back at it next week.”

“Vos did great,” Fransen said. “He brought us together in practice.”

Landini praised Vosburgh’s poise and maturity.

“He’s really a great kid,” Landini said. “He has a really good head on his shoulders. I’m very pleased with him today. He threw well.”

After forcing Arlington Catholic (3-6) to punt on its second drive, the Beavers only needed one play to score, Fransen’s 62-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep to the right with 7:42 left in the first quarter. Braydin Levesque’s extra point made it 7-0.

“Great blocking outside,” said Fransen, who already has rushed for 675 yards and eight touchdowns in his limited time as a tailback. “They (offensive line) ran it perfectly on how it was supposed to be. All I had to do was run.”

The Cougars responded when senior quarterback Thomas Driscoll (16 carries, 128 yards, 2 fumbles lost; 10-of-18 passing, 105 yards) broke free for a 75-yard touchdown run with 6:33 to play in the first quarter. Alexander Nalbandyan kicked his first of three extra points to tie the game at 7-7.

Valley Tech took the lead for good on Fransen’s 42-yard touchdown run with 2:11 remaining in the first quarter. Levesque’s PAT made it 14-7.

Arlington Catholic, thanks to a 57-yard scamper by senior running back Brendan Bertolami (10 carries, 134 yards), had a first-and-goal at the Beavers’ 3. Bertolami picked up 2 yards on first down, but Driscoll was stuffed for no gain on the next two snaps, before being tackled for a 1-yard loss on fourth down to turn the ball over back to Valley Tech 5 seconds into the second quarter.

Despite committing five penalties, the Beavers drove 98 yards in 12 plays, capped by Vosburgh’s 59-yard pass to Fransen on a beautifully executed flea flicker on fourth-and-16 with 4:59 left in the first half. Levesque missed the extra point, keeping it 20-7. The uneven drive chewed up nearly seven minutes on the clock.

“At the end of the day, it was just another play,” Fransen said. “I’m just glad it worked.”

“We’ve been working on it in practice a little bit,” Vosburgh said. “We finally got it into a game.”

The Cougars, aided by a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty on a third-and-8 that gave them a first down at the Valley Tech 24, advanced to the 12-yard line after back-to-back 6-yard runs by Driscoll.

On first down, Driscoll called his own number for a third straight time, picking up another 3 yards on a keeper. After an incompletion, Driscoll threw a 9-yard scoring pass to senior Malikai McLure that was nullified by a holding penalty, pushing the ball back to the Beavers’ 22.

From there, the Cougars’ offense continued to implode. An illegal shift moved it back 5 more yards. Driscoll then was sacked on back-to-back plays to turn the ball over on downs with 15.3 seconds left in the half.

Valley Tech opened the second half with an 11 play, 65-yard drive, capped by Vosburgh’s 3-yard TD toss to junior receiver Nicholas Whitlock with 4:16 left in the third quarter. Vosburgh’s pass on the conversion fell incomplete, keeping the score 26-7.

After a 62-yard scoring run by Driscoll, the Beavers put together another long drive, with Fransen scoring from 5 yards with 5:34 to play. Levesque’s extra point made it 33-14.

“It puts a lot of confidence in me,” Vosburgh said of having the fleet-footed Fransen and powerful senior Jayden Roderigues (13 carries, 58 yards) in the backfield. “It feels good to be able to put the ball in their hands and watch them run.”

“They’re the two-headed monster we need,” Landini said.

−Contact Steve Farley at sports@telegram.com.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Blackstone Valley Tech football tops Arlington Catholic in Division 6