LYNN — Thursday night’s game between the KIPP Academy and Nashoba Tech football teams was one the Panthers would like to forget soon. KIPP couldn’t get anything going offensively, struggled to keep Nashoba’s offense off the field and the result was a 39-0 loss to the Vikings at Manning Field.
“You could tell from the beginning, we didn’t bring our A-game today,” KIPP coach Jim Rabbitt said. “We had a couple injuries during the week. (Running back) Tomi (Oladunjoye) went down with an ankle injury. We weren’t able to step up the way we did last week against Chelsea (28-6 win). Guys went down, we stepped up. This week, guys went down and we couldn’t fill those gaps.”
KIPP forced a 4th-and-5 on Nashoba’s opening drive but an offsides penalty committed by the Panthers kept the drive alive for the Vikings. Nashoba quarterback Jose Soba (7-of-12 pass attempts, 170 yards) punched one in on a 4-yard scramble and Nashoba led 6-0 with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter.
“We talk all week about little things,” Rabbitt said. “Doing the small things right because the small things add up to big things. Staying onsides on 4th-and-short when we know ‘here comes the quarterback sneak, here comes the hard count.’ We had them scouted out for that, we knew it. We just couldn’t execute those things.
“We had two fourth downs that we should’ve been able to stop,” said Rabbit. “That swung the momentum too, for us. We’re still working on fighting through adversity and being able to come back from behind when you’re down.”
Taj White-King intercepted a Nashoba pass on the Vikings’ ensuing possession but the Panthers couldn’t cash in.
The Vikings extended their lead to 13-0 90 seconds into the second quarter when Soba found Eli Norton for a 14-yard touchdown toss (Randy Delva PAT). Nashoba worked with a short field on its next drive thanks to a 22-yard punt return from Tyler Alden. Soba connected with Ryan Pearson for an 18-yard touchdown pass on the next play, padding Nashoba’s lead to 19-0 with 7:09 to play in the half.
KIPP’s Daniel Oluwasuyi carried the Panthers into Nashoba territory on a 43-yard rush to the Vikings’ 20-yard line. But the KIPP drive stalled and Nashoba added another touchdown to its lead when Soba ran it on a 7-yard keeper (Delva PAT). The Panthers trailed 26-0 at halftime.
KIPP totaled 68 yards of offense in the first half, 43 of which were from Oluwasuyi’s big run.
“(Offensively) we’ve been stagnant for the past couple weeks, minus Chelsea,” Rabbitt said. “We’re still looking to get a couple guys doing. Without Tomi, it’s a little more difficult. We need guys to step up. We have running backs that should be able to run. Our linemen are the strength of our team.
“We’re going to keep refining and keep digging because we know we’re a lot better than what we showed on the field tonight.”
Nashoba sealed its scoring with a pair of touchdowns in the second half. The first was a 37-yard pass from Soba to Alden (four catches, 130 yards) with 8:42 remaining in the third quarter (PAT failed). Soba added a 19-yard keeper for a touchdown with 9:08 left in the fourth quarter (Delva PAT).
Olawasuyi finished with 70 rushing yards on 10 carries. Alix Pierre Toussaint ran the ball three times for 21 yards.
The Panthers (1-3) host Mystic Valley next Thursday night (7) at Manning.
“We have two (CAC) league games left,” Rabbitt said. “We can still finish the regular season with a winning record. Our eyes are week-to-week. We’re looking forward to Mystic Valley. I think the battle of charter schools is an interesting concept. We’ll keep working to get ready.”