by Dakota Antelman
One year after beating Assabet on their own field, the Hawks football team drew a substantial crowd to the Morgan Bowl, eager to see history repeat itself. However, the game, which featured fans from both schools chanting back and forth across the field, did not go as Hudson fans hoped with the Hawks losing 26-6.
“Everyone gets hyped up for these games,” Hudson quarterback Stephen Miranda said. “We have kids that go there from our school, which means we have a lot of friends on the team. With Marlborough, where we’re friends with a couple kids, it’s less of a friendly match than with Assabet.”
The Hawks faced Assabet this year thanks to a drop to Division C that now puts the Aztecs on their schedule more often. The Hawks have played Assabet in the past, but, up until this year, the teams would go years without playing each other.
In this year’s game the Hawks scored just one touchdown and amassed just 141 total yards gained on offense. Miranda was sacked twice and spent much of the game fleeing pressure from a collapsing pocket. Meanwhile, running back Gabe Souza of Assabet picked apart the Hudson defense, racking up two rushing touchdowns and 123 total yards.
“They ran the ball really well,” said MacAnespie. “They pushed for first downs, and they were able to make the big plays. They grinded it a little bit and then popped a couple big plays.”
Despite winning the coin toss and electing to receive the opening kickoff, the Hawks were forced to punt after the Aztecs stifled three straight Hudson running plays. On offense, Assabet was able to march the ball down to the 1 yard line where Phillips scored on a quarterback sneak to give his team a 6-0 lead.
With the ball back in their hands later in the first half, the Hawks delighted their fans when Zach Chaulk was able to sprint past his defender and haul in a 40-yard reception from Miranda that put the Hawks near the 20 yard line.
“I saw the guy coming in on me on my right, so I knew I had to escape it,” Miranda said of the play. “I was about to run it, but I saw Zach wide open so I knew I had to throw it to him. I threw it perfectly, and he caught it.”
The Hawks did manage to score later in the quarter when Miranda slipped past blockers along the Assabet sideline and dove into the end-zone for a 7-yard rushing touchdown.
The Hudson surge did not last long, however, as Assabet stretched its lead back to two scores on a Souza 6-yard touchdown. After shutting down another promising drive by the Hawks straight out of half time, the Aztecs extended their lead on a 49-yard, third quarter touchdown run again by Souza, and a 3-yard rush by Phillips late in the fourth quarter.
Looking back on the game, MacAnespie explained the Hawks’ offensive struggles.
“We’re young in the backfield, so we need to make sure that we hold onto the ball; the guys also need to be able to block up front,” he said, adding. “It’s not gonna surprise us when we look on the film tomorrow and see what happened.”
Among nearly 20 other losses last year, the Hawks graduated their star running back Jesse Nemerowicz and ended up handing most of the rushing duties to Tony Francolini, a new varsity starter, on Friday.
Beyond the run game, MacAnespie said the pass game, which he hopes he can turn to more often with Miranda at quarterback this season, needs improvement.
“We’ve got to trust that the guys are gonna be in the right spots at the right times, and that didn’t happen today,” he said. “We’ve got to get our passing game together.”
Nearly a half hour after the final play, the Hawks were silent as they walked back to their clubhouse on Friday despite the cheers of a dense crowd of fans near the exits of Morgan Bowl that symbolized the growth of the rivalry between Hudson and Assabet.
“It’s really picked up,” Miranda said. “Obviously tonight they beat us. We didn’t play well at all, but that’s what it’s all about. Our fans supported us. Their fans supported them. They just got the best of us tonight.”
