Sports
Following Big Win and Emotional Week, Stoughton High Football Prepares for First Division Game
Fresh off a 25-6 win at home against heavily-favored Mansfield, the 4-0 Stoughton High football team is looking to continue its hot start this season. Stoughton hosts Foxborough this Friday in the first Davenport Division showdown of the season.
With the Stoughton High football team's 25-6 win over Mansfield last Friday at home, Stoughton Patch will look at some key factors contributing to the win and look ahead to this Friday's contest home against Hockomock League Davenport Division rival Foxborough (3-1) at 6 p.m. [note the time change]. Friday night is also homecoming for the 4-0 Black Knights.
1. The Frankie Morris Show - Morris once again had a huge offensive game for Stoughton last Friday, pacing the Knights with four touchdowns against Mansfield. Morris electrified the crowd at the home crowd at Anthony L. Sarno field with an 86-yard touchdown run. The senior fullback ended up with 161 yards on the night and was a big reason why Stoughton upset Mansfield for a second straight year.
2. Run Defense - Stoughton's run defense came up huge once again shutting down Mansfield running back Robbie Rapoza fresh off his 250-yard, 4-touchdown effort against Dracut the prior week. Stoughton's ability to shut down Rapoza is evidence they can limit an offensive's big threat moving forward.
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3. Kiivone Howard - Speaking of having to limit an opposing offense's big threat, Foxborough senior running back Kiivone Howard will look to challenge Frankie Morris in the touchdown category Friday night. Howard has 12 touchdowns so far, averaging 3 a game. Morris has 8 touchdowns, averaging 2 a game. Both Howard and Morris will look to light up the scoreboard for both their respective teams come Friday. Other players to watch for the Warriors: quarterback Mike Slaby, running back Luc Valenza and cornerback Alex Pacitti.
4. Must Win Game - Friday's game against Foxboro is essentially a must win game for the Knights to keep up in the Hockomock League's Davenport (small schools) Division. This is Stoughton's first division game and division games help decide a team's playoff fate in the Hockomock League. Stoughton has proven they show up for the big games, and none so far is as big as this week's. After being overlooked to start the season, in some of the latest polls Stoughton checks in as high as the 10th best team in the state (Boston Herald).
5. Rallying around David - The Stoughton High School football team and the Stoughton community are going to have heavy hearts come Friday's match up, after senior lineman David Wade died following an accidental shooting, last Saturday, Sept. 29. The team, who will dedicate the rest of the season to Wade, will look to rally around the memories they all had with their teammate and brother for life. This Friday will be a big emotional test for the Black Knights.
Find out what's happening in Stoughtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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Click here to read a full recap of the Stoughton/Mansfield game
Last year, Stoughton edged Foxborough 21-13 at home. Click here to check out coverage of that game.
Stoughton over Mansfield wasn't the only upset in the Hockomock League last week. Foxborough beat North Attleboro. Click here to check out coverage of that game.
Can't make it to Friday's game vs. Foxborough? You can follow all the action right on Stoughton Patch with our live blog.
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Stoughton Patch editor Jeffrey Pickette contributed reporting.
