Hollis Brookline football comes from behind to top ConVal

PETERBOROUGH - There have been two constants for ConVal and Hollis Brookline when their high school football teams have played each other over the last few seasons: close games and ConVal victories – including a memorable 36-32 contest last season.

Friday night in Peterborough, another close game continued the first of those trends. But, in dramatic fashion, Hollis Brookline (4-1) fought its way back from a halftime deficit to finally put an end to a recent winless drought against the Cavaliers' cross-region rivals with a 21-13 upset over the previously undefeated Cougars (4-1).

The night started out rough for the both teams, as each was without its starting quarterbacks for the game. Also dealing with a slick field after a day of light but steady rain, both teams struggled with footing though out the first half as field conditions became an additional opponent with which to contend.

On the Cavs’ first offensive drive, the slickness of the field contributed to the first crucial play of the game.

Quarterback Sander Wimmer got HB deep into ConVal territory after breaking an open-field tackle and scrambling 30 yards to the Cougars’ 19-yard line. On third-down, Wimmer attempted to launch a pass towards the end zone, but as he released the ball his back foot slipped on the wet grass, causing an underthrown ball to be intercepted by ConVal’s Andrew Skillings.

After ConVal was forced to punt, Wimmer redeemed himself on the Cavalier’s next offensive drive when he connected with Matt Simco for a 68-yard touchdown pass. The lanky receiver caught the short pass from Wimmer, spun through defensive coverage, and sprinted down field for an early 7-0 lead.

The comfort of an early lead was short-lived, when Wimmer’s next pass attempt careened off the fingertips of Simco and into the hands of a ConVal defender.

“When you’ve got to start a sophomore at quarterback, you have to take the good with the bad,” HB coach Chris Lones said about his quarterback situation entering the game. “We just tried to get him ready.”

ConVal’s Keenan Wilson, doing fill-in work of his own for Dan Spezzaferri at quarterback, immediately took advantage of the great field position set up by the interception and delivered a 21-yard strike to Makeen Wilson to tie the game 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Following an HB fumble inside of ConVal’s 30-yard line, Zach Obuchowski weaved his way behind great downfield blocking for a 25-yard gain into Cavs' territory, setting up a short touchdown run by senior Scott Stanley.

ConVal held onto a 13-7 lead going into halftime, despite the Cavs appearing quicker, more elusive, and more aggressive on both sides of the ball.

From the perspective of coach Lones, it was only a matter of time before his team’s toughness and resiliency paid off.

“They played their tails off and kept their heads in the game,” Lones said about his team’s mentality after falling behind in the first half. “That’s what a good football team does.”

On its opening drive of the third quarter, HB’s offense utilized the quickness and elusiveness that was the Cavs' strength earlier in the game and drove 60 yards on five plays, culminating in an end-around handoff to Chad Brown. The receiver went 19 yards to the end zone for the tying score.

The Cavs defense forced a ConVal punt following the score, and a re-energized Wimmer led his team on another long scoring drive capped off by a 66-yard completion across the middle of the field to Simco that resulted in the Cavaliers retaking the lead, 21-13.

ConVal and coach Paul Landau, hoping for a pass interference call on a deep third-down pass that resulted in both defender and receiver tangled on the ground, were forced to once again send the punt team onto the field when the referee waved his arms to indicate an incomplete pass.

Wilson and the Cougars' offense tried several times to put together a game-tying drive in the second half, but HB's defense denied ConVal each time, forcing four punts and three turnovers – including an interception on the final desperation play of the game.

“I was impressed by our defense,” Lones said while his team celebrated its hard fought victory. “We had bad plays, we had good plays, and we had great plays. [This performance] is only going to help us going forward.”

ConVal will try to regroup after its first loss of the season when the Cougars go on the road next week to play Pelham. Hollis-Brookline will return home to face Manchester West.