STONEHAM — The No. 4 Bishop Fenwick football team ran into the hard running game of No. 1 Stoneham Thursday night, falling 48-20 in the Division 6 North semifinal at Stoneham High.
“I don’t think anything went wrong with our game plan,” Fenwick coach Dave Woods said. “I think they are just a good team. We knew it from the time we saw them that they’re good. They block well, they’re physical and they have great running backs. Just a tough team to stop and they are going to be a tough team to stop going forward, that’s for sure.
“I have no shame in losing to a team that’s better than you,” Woods added. “They are better than us, that’s all you can say.”
The Stoneham offense was led by the running back tandem of Seth Russell (15 carries for 140 yards and four touchdowns) and Christos Argyropoulos (11 carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns).
“It’s a little bit of everything,” Woods said of trying to slow down Stoneham’s offense. “We have played teams running the same offense and shut them out. But they are big, physical and good. I mean, those guys are well coached and the offensive line, you could see it on film. We knew coming in they were good.”
Crusaders quarterback Cory Bright went 19-for-28 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns with the bulk of his passes going to wide receiver George Fiskatoris (11 catches for 111 yards).
The Spartans started fast, capitalizing on an interception with a 63-yard touchdown run by quarterback Deshaun Chase to put Stoneham ahead 8-0.
Fenwick was able to answer when Bright connected with Joe Rivers for a 19-yard touchdown pass to cut the Stoneham lead to 8-7, but that was as close as the Crusaders would get.
Stoneham scored on its next four drives thanks to three touchdown runs by Russell and one from Argyropoulos. Meanwhile the Spartans defense shut down Fenwick’s offense giving Stoneham a 34-7 lead at the half.
“It was the same kind of things on offense,” Woods said. “They were physical up front and we had a tough time. We missed on a few passes early but I don’t think that really would have changed the outcome. They were good, physical and athletic in the second level.
“We said at halftime, ‘It really has nothing to do with the score of the game it has to do with how you’re going to react and how you’re going to respond,'” Woods added. “I thought we fought and played hard the entire game but we could have put 13 or 14 guys on the field and I think they still would have scored.”
The second half was much of the same with the Stoneham running game eating away at the clock , and Russell and Argyropoulos each adding one more touchdown on the ground.
The Crusaders added touchdowns on a 62-yard run by David Cifuentes and a 10-yard pass from Bright to Stefano Fabiano to cut the Stoneham lead to 48-20 before the final whistle.
“We were not as perfect and as crisp as we have been,” Woods said. “There were a couple of chances that if we hit them, it may have been a little different. I don’t think it’s going to change the outcome of the game but it would have definitely made it a little more interesting.”
