Hollis Brookline beats Bow to reach D2 football final for first time

BOW - If the Hollis Brookline High School football team was going to advance to the Division II championship game, the Cavaliers were going to have to do things Saturday that they haven't exactly been known to do.

But when it came time for HB to run the football and play defense, it was more than up to the challenge.

Sander Wimmer and Marc-Andre Thermitus both finished with over a hundred yards rushing and the No. 5 Cavs kept top-seeded Bow from scoring in the second half, as HB advanced to the first final in program history behind a 34-14 win over the Falcons in the D2 semifinals.

Wimmer finished with 121 yards rushing and a touchdown, while also completing 11 of 16 passes for 99 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Thermitus added 102 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, including two in the second half that put the game away for HB (9-2).

"I told Sander, you’re going to hate it, but we’re running the ball," HB coach Chris Lones said. "We’ve got to do it. You want to go to UNH? Then trust me, we’re going to get there."

Wimmer was more than happy to put the passing game to the side in the second half, as the Cavs ran 19 times for 148 yards after halftime, and finished with 224 of their 323 yards on the ground.

"The way this season has been going, nothing would have surprised me," Wimmer said. "I knew our running game is kind of underestimated. Their line is really big and we’re kind of smaller and quicker. We didn’t want to get grounded-and-pounded, but our line did an amazing job of getting low, not getting moved and doing their jobs."

The Falcons (10-1) did a lot of grounding and pounding, as they got all but 10 of their 272 yards on the ground and averaged better than 5 yards on 52 attempts. But after answering HB's touchdown drive to open the game, Bow struggled to keep pace, and was chasing for most of the afternoon.

"I was hoping that we would play our brand of Bow football," Bow coach Paul Cohen said. "That’s what would be required if we were to be successful. Clearly, that didn’t happen. There were bits and pieces of that and some flashes of brilliance, but against a team like that, that’s not enough. We made way too many fundamental errors and they capitalized on a lot of what we gave them."

Steve Guerrette had 122 yards and a touchdown rushing while Thomas Rolla had 88 yards on the ground and Andrew Robbins also had a 5-yard touchdown run. That score came on the final play of the first half and capped a 13-play, 81-yard drive that took up the final 6:10 of the half.

With Bow getting the ball first to start the second half, making it a one-possession game seemed like a huge momentum swing.

"We just told ourselves, even though they’re getting the ball, we’re still winning," Wimmer said. "We won the first half, we can win the second half. That was our mindset, just stop them, get the ball back, and if we score, it will screw up their game."

That's what the Cavs did, forcing Bow to go three-and-out. HB got the ball back at its own 40, and after runs of 10 and 13 yards by Thermitus and Wimmer, respectively, a defensive pass interference call gave the Cavs a first down at Bow's 22.

But three plays later, Wimmer was picked off in the end zone by Sebastian Beaulieu to end the threat.

The Falcons methodically moved the ball into HB territory, but on first down at the Cavs' 44, a fumble by Guerrette was recovered by A.J. Johnson. Bow's defense looked like it would get the offense the ball back, but on fourth-and-2 at the HB 46, Wimmer ran for 49 yards to the Falcons' 5-yard line.

Thermitus carried into the end zone on the next play to give HB a 27-14 lead with 53 seconds remaining in the third.

"That’s not where they want to be," Lones said. "That’s not what they do. They want to be in an even game where it’s tight, not in a game where they have to do (things) they don’t want to do. We had to put them under stress and that’s what we did."

Bow drove down to HB's 31-yard line on the ensuing drive, but on fourth-and-5, Guerrette was only able to pick up two yards, and the Cavs got the ball back with 9:04 remaining. While HB didn't score on the possession, it moved to the Bow 25 and ran 4:33 off the clock before turning the ball over on downs.

But the Falcons were unable to pick up a first down, with HB's Adam Slater sacking Beaulieu for a 4-yard loss on fourth down. Four plays later, Thermitus started the celebration with an 18-yard touchdown run with 1:33 left in the game.

"I’m proud of them," Lones said. "These guys have fought all year long. At the beginning of the season, we weren’t picked to be a playoff team. When the playoffs started, I’d argue that we were the team no body wanted to play. First team in HB history to get (to UNH). We’re making history."