BRAINTREE – Mashpee had a Ford and were more than willing to drive it into the winner's circle.
Junior running back Devaun Ford got the call 36 times and he responded to the tune of 253 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 4:34 left, as Mashpee (11-0) advanced to the Division 7 Super Bowl with a hard-fought, 28-20, win over St. Mary's yesterday at Braintree High School. The Falcons will be gunning for their third straight bowl title when they take on Blackstone Valley on the weekend of December 1-2 at Gillette Stadium.
“We want to win again, we want to call ourselves a dynasty,” said Colgate-bound offensive lineman Ben Bohnenberger. “We've 14-0 in the playoff and we're undefeated this season. We just want to go out and win again.”
Right after St. Mary's tied the score at 20-20 on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Calvin Johnson to James Brumfield with 7:56 left, Mashpee dialed up Ford's number early and often on the ensuing possession. He carried the ball on all six plays on the 53-yard drive, capping it off by darting up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown with 4:34 left.
“We have the five guys up front and one of the better backs in Eastern Massachusetts,” said Mashpee coach Matt Triveri. “If we were going to go down, we were going down with them.”
Ford's day wasn't done yet. After St. Mary's lost the ball on down at its own 36 with 3:30 left, Ford carried the ball on six of the seven plays, getting it down to the 1 before Mashpee took a pair of knees to run out the clock.
“I was going all out for my brothers because I knew they were going all out for me,” Ford said. “The guys up front are big humans. They were making holes for me and they've been doing that all year long.”
Mashpee wasted little time in getting on the board. The Falcons drove 60 yards in 12 plays with quarterback Jacob Johnston scoring the first of his two rushing touchdowns, a 7-yard scamper. Ford added the conversion run to make it 8-0.
The lead lasted all of three plays as Josh Mateo burst through a gaping hole and ran 55 yards to paydirt. Johnson (15 carries, 48 yards) evened the score at 8 as he converted the 2-point run.
Mashpee regained the lead on a 13-yard TD run by Ford with 53.9 seconds left in the quarter, but St. Mary's responded once again. Faced with a third-and-16 from the Mashpee 20, Johnson threw a high floater into the end zone that wide receiver Eni Falayi put his 6-foot-3 frame to good use, out-jumping a defender for a touchdown, evening the score at 14.
Ford got the call on nine straight plays, amassing 55 yards, leading to Johnston's 1-yard plunge and a 20-14 halftime lead.
