Brockton beats Everett for title
WALTHAM -- Before the beginning of the 2004 season, Brockton coach Peter Colombo expressed his desire to wrest the title of "Massachusetts football powerhouse" from Everett and restore the Boxers to their position as the premier high school football program in the state.
Yesterday at Bentley College, Colombo accomplished both goals as No. 5 Brockton stunned three-time defending MIAA Super Bowl champion Everett, 22-21, snapping the Crimson Tide's 35-game winning streak and giving the Boxers their first Division 1 title since 1996.
With Brockton trailing, 21-14, with less than six minutes to play, Brockton running back Richard Johnson delivered the City of Champions its ninth Super Bowl title with an improbable 91-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion dive, gashing the vaunted Everett defense by taking counter handoffs on both plays.
"We blocked it just right," said Johnson. "We covered everyone we had to, and once I got outside, nobody was catching me. I looked up at the clock as I was running downfield, and I saw there wasn't a lot of time left. That's when I knew we were winning this game."
No. 2 Everett attempted to salvage its run at history by turning to quarterback Matt Nuzzo on the following drive. Nuzzo, who was attempting to become the first QB to win four Super Bowls, found 17 yards of running room on the second play and advanced Everett to midfield.
After two rushes lost 3 yards, Nuzzo fired an incompletion on third down and was picked off on fourth down by Brockton linebacker Sam Besong with 2:59 left.
The Everett defense held on the Boxers' next drive, forcing a turnover on downs and getting the ball back in Nuzzo's hands 63 yards from the end zone with 13 seconds to play. But the stand came at a cost: Coach John DiBiaso was forced to burn all of his timeouts trying to regain possession.
Nuzzo hit running back Theluxon Pierre (split out wide) with a quick lateral, but Pierre couldn't get out of bounds before he was tackled with 7 seconds to play. A facemask penalty was called on the play, advancing the ball to the Brockton 48, but once the ball was respotted, the clock began running again. With Everett out of timeouts and unaware that the clock had been restarted after the defensive penalty, time literally ran out on Nuzzo's historic career when he didn't get the snap off before the final horn sounded.
"We didn't know the clock was running," said Nuzzo, who had his back turned to the stadium's only scoreboard as he was crouched over center. "We thought it stopped after the penalty, but it kept running. But you give credit to Brockton, they came out and beat us."
It appeared Nuzzo had discovered yet another way to win a Super Bowl when his punt rolled out of bounds at the Brockton 1 with 6:37 to play, pinning the Boxers on their goal line with no margin for error.
But Besong took an option pitch for 5 yards on first down, then a handoff for 3 on second down. On third and 2, Johnson took a counter over left tackle, sidestepped a defender, dashed into the open field down the sideline, and outran the Everett secondary for the monumental touchdown.
After calling time, Colombo decided to go for the 2-point conversion. A counter to the right side did the trick as Johnson (19 carries, 156 yards, 3 TDs) slipped across the goal line to give Brockton the lead.
"I didn't want to go to overtime," said Colombo. "And the kicks aren't guaranteed with these tighter college uprights. I thought we had Everett back on their heels a little, and we wanted to keep the pressure on."
It's the first Super Bowl championship as a coach for Colombo, who took over the Brockton program on an interim basis last fall and was named coach before this season. He succeeded his father, Armond Colombo, who built Brockton into a power by winning 323 games and eight Super Bowls in 34 years.
Brockton drew first blood against the Greater Boston League champion with Johnson's 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. A 58-yard pass from Jessy Resende to Jerome Edwards set up the score, but a failed PAT left the Boxers ahead, 6-0.
Everett answered with a 20-yard scoring run from Nuzzo, with Tarsis Penedo adding the extra point.
The only Brockton turnover of the game, a fumbled snap in the second quarter, led to a 7-yard run by Everett's Patrick Deleon and a 14-6 lead for the defending champs.
The Boxers tied the game with 1:55 to play in the half on a 2-yard run by Johnson and a conversion rush from Resende.
A failed fourth-down attempt on Brockton's opening drive of the second half led to Everett reclaiming the lead on an 11-yard run by Nuzzo.
The teams traded possessions, with Nuzzo's 42-yard punt putting the Boxers' backs against the wall. Then came Johnson's run and a return to glory for Colombo and the Brockton program.
"It's everything I've dreamed about," said Colombo. "This is what the city of Brockton thrives on; it's what we're used to. We felt if anyone could match up with Everett physically, it would be us."
Coming in, Brockton and Everett were the two winningest teams in state history, with 696 and 667 victories, respectively.
"It's a tough way to end it," said DiBiaso. "For Matthew and all the seniors, it's tough for them to go out like this.
"But we had the ball on the 1 and they had to go 99 yards. Johnson made a great run."
