Sports

Hockomock Football Recap: Thanksgiving Upsets, Comebacks, Blowouts and Nail-Biters

A recap of Thanksgiving football action in the Hockomock League.

If anything, Thanksgiving once again proved how exciting and unpredictable the Hockomock League can be.

The League's two playoff teams both lost; Stoughton and Mansfield's long Thanksgiving win streaks were snapped, while Oliver Ames extended its streak; the King Philip/Franklin and Stoughton/Canton games came down to the wire, with the KP/Franklin game being decided in the final seconds, and with Stoughton/Canton being decided in overtime, and Foxborough orchestrated a second-half comeback vs. Mansfield. The other games were blowouts.

Thanksgiving marked the end of the season for nine of the teams in the league, but Mansfield (Division 2) and Sharon (Division 3) will head to the postseason, playing in a semifinal game Tuesday night, looking for a berth in their respective division's Super Bowl.

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Below is a Thanksgiving scoreboard, recap, star players, standings, and a playoff schedule.

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THANKSGIVING SCOREBOARD/STREAKS

GAME
RESULT SERIES STREAK Canton at Stoughton Canton W1 (Stoughton had won previous 7 matchups and 15 of the last 17) Foxborough at Mansfield Foxborough W1 (Mansfield had won previous 5 matchups and 8 out of the last 9) Sharon at Oliver Ames
Oliver Ames W9 Franklin at King Philip
King Philip W3 North Attleboro at Attleboro
North Attleboro W4 Coyle-Cassidy at Taunton Taunton, 48-10 Taunton W4

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THANKSGIVING RECAP


  • For the first time in the 87-year history of the series, the game was decided in overtime. Canton scored an upset win, beating Stoughton for the first time since 2004. Regulation ended tied at 20. After Frankie Morris got Stoughton on the board first in overtime with a two-yard touchdown run, giving the Black Knights a 26-20 lead after the two point conversion attempt was fumbled, Canton responded with a five-yard touchdown run by Shane Nordgren to tie the game again. Canton then won on Dexter Green's successful two-point conversion run. Click here for a full recap.


  • After trailing 14-0 at halftime, Foxborough outscored Mansfield 27-7 in the second half to pull off a thrilling Thanksgiving Day victory Thursday at Alumni Field. Kiivone Howard scored three times, including runs of 71 and 65 yards to lead Foxborough to its first win over Mansfield since 2006. Mansfield quarterback Kyle Wisnieski threw two first-half touchdowns but Foxborough’s defense forced three turnovers in the second half, including two interceptions in the final three minutes to close out the 6-point victory. Click here for a full recap.


  • Against the Davenport Division Champion Sharon Eagles, the Oliver Ames Tigers decided to end the season on a high note. OA scored early and often to take down the Eagles, turning an early 14-7 lead into a convincing 35-7 victory. OA quarterback Cidado finished the day 12 of 21 passing for 268 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. Three of his touchdown completions were thrown to Greg Cummings, who was named the offensive player of the game with 130 yards receiving. Click here for a full recap.


  • After King Philip trailed 6-0 at the half, Christian Flaherty capped off a 6+ minute drive for the Warriors with a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game. Later in the third, King Philip took a 12-6 lead with a touchdown off a keeper from QB John Dillion. Franklin came back scoring on a Kyle Finamore run to go up 13-12. But, down by 1 with less than 2:30 to play, KP orchestrated a game-winning drive. With seconds left to play, Joe Johnston scored the winning touchdown on a 4-yard pitch play to the right. Click here for a full recap.


  • Attleboro scored the first and last touchdowns against North Attleboro on Thanksgiving, but NA scored 28 unanswered points in between to score a blowout win. North Attleboro scored on its first six possessions, with five different Red Rocketeers recording touchdowns. Click here for a full recap.

Taunton 48, Coyle-Cassidy 10

  • In the only non-Hockomock League matchup on Thanksgiving, Taunton ended its season with a blowout victory over rival Coyle-Cassidy. Taunton built a 35-0 lead before Coyle-Cassidy got on the board. Five different Taunton players scored in the victory. Click here for a scoring recap.

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THANKSGIVING STARS

  • Malachi Baugh led Stoughton with 112 yards rushing, including a 30-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to pull even with Canton, 14-14.
  • Canton's Elias Camacho had 146 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns, and added a two point conversion run.
  • After just four carries for 15 yards in the first half, Foxborough running back Kiivone Howard exploded for three rushing touchdowns, two coming on runs longer than 60 yards, in the second half, to lead the Warriors to a memorable Thanksgiving Day win. Howard ends the season with 23 rushing touchdowns on the season and was awarded the Vincent Igo MVP award for his outstanding play on Thanksgiving.
  • Mansfield receiver Brendan Hill was a match-up nightmare for Foxborough defensive backs and gave QB Kyle Wisnieski a big target to find in the passing game. Hill hauled in a second quarter touchdown pass to give Mansfield a 14-0 lead at the time.
  • Oliver Ames' Mike McMillan stared on both sides of the ball with 100 yards receiving on offense and with a standout effort on defense.
  • Sharon's Jared Fogel intercepted a pass and hauled in a 40-yard TD reception.
  • King Philip running back Joe Johnson scored the game winning touchdown vs. Franklin on a 4-yard run with just 8 seconds left, and added a two-point conversion run.
  • Franklin running back Kyle Finamore ran for both Panther touchdowns against King Philip.
  • North Attleboro quarterback Ryan Perron tossed three touchdowns and ran for another score, accounting for four of his team's six scores.
  • Attleboro quarterback Tim Walsh had a 1-yard touchdown run and a 30-yard touchdown pass.
  • Taunton's Jamal Williams scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter and returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

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FINAL STANDINGS (based on division record)

Davenport

(Small Schools)



Team (overall rec)

Division

Record

Streak

Sharon (8-3)

DIVISION CHAMP

3-1

L1

Stoughton (9-2)

2-2 L1

Foxborough (8-3)

2-2 W1
Canton (3-6) 2-2 W1

Oliver Ames (6-5)

1-3 W1

Kelly-Rex

(Large Schools)



Team (overall rec)

Division

Record

Streak

Mansfield (7-4)

DIVISION CHAMP

4-1 L1
King Philip (10-1)  4-1
W4
North Attleboro (7-4)
3-2 W1
Franklin (7-4) 2-3
L1
Taunton (4-7) 2-3 W1 Attleboro (4-7) 0-4 L7

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PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

  • Nov. 27, 5:15 p.m. - Division 3 semifinal - Sharon vs. Pembroke (at Braintree High School)
  • Nov. 27, 7:45 p.m. - Division 2 semifinal - Mansfield vs. Duxbury (at Bridgewater-Raynham High School)

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