Roxbury Latin stars in late show

In the end, Roxbury Latin just wouldn't lose.

Noble & Greenough scored 28 straight points for what looked like a safe 28-14 lead with five minutes to play yesterday in West Roxbury.

Roxbury Latin had other ideas, and rallied for a 29-28 victory.

Joey Giandomenico picked off Nobles quarterback McCallum Foote in Latin territory to start the comeback. Latin needed a minute to get to the end zone, Alex Raffol hitting a streaking Giandomenico over the middle for a 21-yard pass that cut the deficit to 28-21.

Roxbury Latin (3-1) stopped Nobles on downs on the ensuing possession, giving its offense another shot. A screen pass to Jack Colton resulted in a 66-yard gain and brought the ball inside the Nobles 5. Jordan Leites scored on second down, taking a pitch and scoring from 4 yards to bring Latin within 28-27.

Latin went for 2, and Raffol hit Thad Kull to give Roxbury the lead.

Giandomenico put the finishing touches on the win, intercepting another pass by Foote with 25 seconds left.

"What made [the comeback] possible was our defense," said Roxbury Latin coach Michael Turner. "[Giandomenico] had the big pick, and then they stopped them at the end, which gave us the opportunity to kind of get our act together on the sidelines offensively."

Raffol said he knew Latin wouldn't play for a tie.

"Before the last drive our coach said, 'If we score, we're going for 2,' so I knew the whole drive that if we get down there and score we win the game," he said. "When we went for 2 I had a feeling we were going to get it. It was meant to be, I guess."

Latin stormed to a 14-0 lead on a 56-yard halfback pass from Colton to Andrew Berry and a 56-yard pass from Raffol to Mike Ciommo, who made a leaping catch over a defender.

Nobles (3-1) then kicked it into gear, with Foote throwing two touchdown passes and running for a pair of TDs.

Turner was glad to see his team win a close game after dropping a number of similar contests in recent seasons.

"It's a fantastic feeling. These boys have been in a lot of close games over the past couple of years and very rarely have they been on the upside of these close games," he said. "Particularly against a rival like Nobles, and such a talented team, it's rewarding."