The clock strikes zero, players embrace, and Saint Mary’s returns home as Division 6 Super Bowl champions – a perfect picture for a near-perfect team (12-1).
“Our goal was to get back here and win it,” St. Mary’s head coach Sean Driscoll said.
Through the hard work of his players, leadership from the captains, and direction from Driscoll, Saint Mary’s completed that goal. The Spartans defeated Stoneham, 29-8, in a rain-filled, hard-fought game in Foxboro.
Superstar running back David Brown finished the game with 195 yards on the ground and four total touchdowns on the big stage of Gillette Stadium. When asked about Brown, Driscoll’s face lit up with a smile.
“Oh boy, he’s special. Special player and a special person. He’s even a better person than he is an athlete,” Driscoll said.
Brown gave credit to his linemen, saying even though they were undersized, they did a great job creating holes for him to use his speed.
Driscoll confessed how much he is going to miss not only Brown, but the rest of the senior class who wanted to get to this specific game after crashing out in the semifinals last year.
Stoneham started the game with the ball inside its own 20-yard line. Stoneham, with its double-wing formation, kept finding holes in Saint Mary’s defense. Colin Farren was the main catalyst on the drive and capped it off with a 9-yard touchdown run. The team followed with a two-point conversion to take an early 8-0 lead.
Saint Mary’s coach Sean Driscoll gave credit to Stoneham’s opening drive.
“That was a great drive by them; they took nine minutes off the clock which was a huge concern,” Driscoll said.
Driscoll acknowledged that after Stoneham’s opening drive, his team needed to settle down and rise to the occasion.
Saint Mary’s didn’t allow a single point after the opening drive.
“You have to be patient and make the play when it matters most,” Driscoll said of his defense mindset. “Stoneham would get three to four yards a play, but when it got to fourth down, we had to make the play.”
With the defense stepping up after the first drive, it was time for Saint Mary’s offense to shine through Brown.
After a 39-yard pass from Tyler Guy to Jack Marks on third and long, it was Brown who found the endzone on a 5-yard run to strike back and tie the game 8-8 after the two-point conversion.
He never stopped. After the Spartans’ defense turned Stoneham over on downs, Brown, on the second play of the drive, found space and broke off for a 62-yard touchdown run. Brown showed his elusiveness in the open field, making people miss and showing his top-end speed, to get into the endzone and give St. Mary’s a 15-8 lead at the half.
Throughout the game, St. Mary’s proved a team doesn’t need to dominate time of possession to win.
“We knew we had to score when we got the ball,” Brown said, acknowledging Stoneham’s offense is about controlling possession. “Coach, all week, had us preparing and working on clock management knowing we had to make the most of our chances because they may have the ball for [the] majority of the game.”
St. Mary’s got the ball to start the second half and, right away, made the most of its opportunity with a 55-yard kickoff return by Derick Coulanges to the 25-yard line to provide strong field position.
Brown, this time, showed his route-running ability and hauled in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Guy to make it 22-8.
One more touchdown later from Brown – his fourth of the afternoon with 3:23 remaining in the fourth – and that was all she wrote.
The final score in the Division 6 Super Bowl: St. Mary’s 29, Stoneham 8.
Earlier this week, Driscoll said he believes St. Mary’s had the hardest bracket of all the upper-four teams. Now, it’s over, and St. Mary’s is the only team standing.