LYNN— The KIPP football team’s on to the Division 8 North final.
Saturday night at Manning Field, No. 3 KIPP punched its ticket to the sectional title game with a 19-2 win over No. 7 Roxbury Charter in the semifinal round.
“It hasn’t sunk in and it might not for awhile,” KIPP coach Jim Rabbitt said. “I’m just so proud of the boys. They’re the ones that got us here. They bought into the program since day one. We said it before, they took their licks and now they’re on top. We’re the last team in Lynn standing right now. We’ll do it for Lynn.”
The Panthers will host No. 4 Keefe Tech, who bumped top-seed Lynn Tech out of the bracket, Friday night (7) at Manning Field. KIPP defeated the Broncos 40-6 during the regular season but the Panthers aren’t looking past them.
“We know everyone’s record is 0-0 in the playoffs,” Rabbitt said. “Any team that beats Lynn Tech is a tough team. They have some great running backs that can pound the ball. We’ll go back, game plan again, work on the things that we did well against them again and change some things that didn’t work the first time. We’ll have a polished game plan for the final.”
Defensively, the Panthers didn’t give Roxbury Charter much to work with. KIPP’s offense, on the other hand, was a victim of its own mistakes with turnovers and penalties keeping the Panthers from putting things out of reach until the fourth quarter.
“The bigger the games get, the tighter the calls get too,” Rabbitt said. “We have to make sure we keep our feet moving. Lazy steps sometimes lead to holding calls, facemasks, things like that. We’ll clean that up to get ready for Keefe Tech.”
KIPP’s ground game led the offense. Daniel Oluwasuyi (77 rushing yards), Dave Filias (134 rushing yards) and Piero Canales (90 rushing yards) each ran for one touchdown. Kicker Kris Merino rounded out the scoring with a PAT.
“That was our game plan,” Rabbitt said. “When we got into situations where we wanted to throw the ball a little bit we saw some openings and took a couple risks running the ball a little more. With the running backs we have I think we can ground and pound as much as we need to. We take it week by week. The pass game’s still there. We’d like to see a few more touchdowns but we’re happy with the yardage we got and the time of possession.”
Oluwasuyi’s 1-yard plunge with 4:11 to play in the first quarter put the Panthers up 7-0 (Merino PAT). Roxbury Charter, with a run-heavy attack of its own, picked up steam in the second quarter. The Wolves marched down to KIPP’s 1-yard line, only to be stuffed on 4th-and-goal with 2:26 left in the half. KIPP’s defensive stand allowed the Panthers to carry their 7-0 edge at halftime.
KIPP wasted no time giving itself breathing room in the third quarter. Filias’ 59-yard touchdown run cushioned the Panthers’ lead to 13-0 (PAT blocked) just 78 seconds into the period. Again, the Wolves moved the chains into KIPP territory but Taj King’s interception at his own 5-yard line on the final play of the quarter squashed the threat.
A bad snap in the end zone opened the door for Roxbury Charter’s lone points of the game- a safety with 11 minutes to go. The Panthers bounced back five minutes later when Canales sealed the deal with a 59-yard keeper (conversion failed). Bhenzel Cadet’s interception in the closing stages kept the Broncos out of the end zone.
“We prepared for a tough, tough football game and that’s what we got,” Rabbitt said. “Roxbury’s well-coached and they gave it their all. I’m proud of our guys for playing a full 48 minutes.”
