There were two things that Walpole football failed to accomplish in last year’s stunning Bay State Herget title campaign, which culminated with a trip to Gillette Stadium to contest the Division 2 Super Bowl. The first was to actually win that Super Bowl championship, as the Rebels fell short to Bishop Feehan. The other was to beat Framingham during the regular season. Call it one down and twelve weeks to go.
Under portable lights at Turco Field Friday night, the Rebs opened a new season with a convincing 34-13 win over Framingham, avenging their sole 2007 regular season defeat.
Junior running back Ryan Izzo ran roughshod over his opponent, adding a quartet of touchdowns to his growing career collection, including an 83-yarder that broke the back of the Flyers defense midway through the game.
“That’s a great analogy,” said Framingham head coach Gary Doherty, when asked if Izzo reminded him of Norwood’s former star tailback Mike Young. “When we played Norwood with Mike Young, we had eight guys trying to stop that kid and if he got five yards, I was happy. Here, with Izzo, I wouldn’t put any limits on what this kid can do with a football. He’s a special, special player.”
The list of special players would also include Framingham senior quarterback Dan Guadagnoli, who was 20-for-31 passing, including a 4-yard touchdown toss to Travis Hayes to cap the game-opening series. But as effective as Guadagnoli was, he couldn’t prop up his teammates after Walpole reeled off three unanswered scores.
Promising running back Troy Salvatore was first to breach the end zone, finishing off Walpole’s initial series with a 6-yard run. The PAT failed, leaving the Rebels trailing, 7-6.
With 7:27 remaining in the second, Izzo hauled in a lateral pass from quarterback Sonny Mastromatteo and sauntered 25 yards along the sideline for the score with Izzo converting the two-point conversion for a 14-7 lead.
Framingham threatened to tie it on the next drive but coughed up the football in the red zone. Rebel linebacker Harrison Gately scooped up the fumble, handing the ball back to his offense. They wouldn’t keep it for long, however, as Izzo broke through the line on the first play from scrimmage, shredding several would-be tacklers, and then kicking in the afterburners for an 83-yarder.
“I think we have an under-rated offensive line,” said Walpole head coach Danny Villa. “Sure, we might have a great running back but you have to create a hole somewhere and I think they do a good job. They understand what’s back there.”
“There was excellent blocking by our line on that play,” said Izzo, who amassed 258 yards on 17 carries. “It was a close game at that point and we definitely needed a big play and a momentum swing to start putting it away.”
Framingham drew to within a touchdown as time expired in the half when Guadagnoli found favorite receiver Nicholas Liquori from five yards out.
In the second half Izzo picked up where he left off with a pair of rushing touchdowns, one a 51-yarder and the other from 19.
Leading up to the second of the two scores, Walpole’s special teams added some chicanery to the mix. Set up to punt away on a fourth-and-long near midfield, Izzo faked the kick, instead flinging the ball to Ryan O’Keefe for 27 yards and a fresh set of downs. It was all Izzo and company would need to seal the deal.
“You have to tip your hat to them,” said Doherty. “Last year, we did a phenomenal job against this team. This year, we didn’t. Walpole had a nice game plan both offensively and defensively but we left a lot of points on the board tonight.”
Although some of the Walpole contingent downplayed the importance of paying retribution to Framingham for last year’s results, there was no holding back for some after the win was safely in the bag.
“There was definitely a revenge factor,” said Izzo. “We lost to them by one point last year and it was definitely the worst game we played.”
“Framingham did beat us last year and it added to the atmosphere a little,” said Villa. “But they were also just the first game on the schedule. We realize that we have to keep doing our thing and play football the way we know how.”
