WOBURN — South sectional champion West Bridgewater ended the KIPP Academy football team’s postseason run with a 19-8 win over the Panthers in Saturday’s Division 8 state semifinal at Woburn High.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” KIPP coach Jim Rabbitt said. “We hung with a really good team. Hats off to West Bridgewater. We played a full 48 minutes with a really good team. We never quit, we never gave up. The emotions they feel now, it’s OK to feel that hurt and that loss.”
Wildcats dual-threat quarterback Matt Lavoie gave KIPP’s defense headaches from start to finish. Lavoie rushed 120 yards and a touchdown, while completing 3-of-11 pass attempts for 55 yards.
“Anytime you see a dive-option team, you have to win some one-on-one battles,” Rabbitt said. “I think we hung in there with a big front. A couple times they were able to break through. They had four fourtht-down conversions on their first drive. It’s not like they went down the field nice and easy. It took them a while. We hung in there.”
Ben Skinner sealed West Bridgewater’s opening possession, a 5-minute march, with a 16-yard touchdown run (Skinner PAT). The Panthers moved the chains to West Bridgewater’s 42 on their first drive but KIPP was stopped short on fourth-and-1. Lavoie stretched the Wildcats’ lead on a 57-yard keeper two plays later and KIPP found itself down 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
“It’s tough when a team can wear you down and burn the clock,” Rabbitt said. “It limits what our offense can do. But again, they’re a great team. They executed their game plan just a little bit better than us.”
Bhenzel Cadet intercepted a Lavoie pass at his own 31 with 9:09 remaining in the half but KIPP’s offense couldn’t gain momentum. West Bridgewater added two points to its lead via safety and carried a 16-0 advantage at halftime.
Things started to turn in KIPP’s favor in the third quarter. The Panthers, behind carries from Piero Canales, Dave Filias and Daniel Oluwasuyi, found openings in the ground game and started moving the chains. Canales sealed the opening drive of the second half with a 5-yard touchdown toss to Filias. The sophomore quarterback tacked on the 2-point conversion on a rush, closing the gap to 16-8.
“My coaches kept saying ‘play action, play action, play action’ and I was just waiting for the right time,” Rabbitt said. “On second and short, if we don’t get it, no big deal. We have two more chances to get the ball in with Daniel and Dave. The play action worked great. Piero made a great throw and Dave was in the end zone wide open.”
Skinner put things out of reach in the fourth quarter. He bumped West Bridgewater’s lead to 19-8 on a 23-yard field goal with 7:19 to play. With 4:59 to go, Skinner intercepted a Canales pass on fourth-and-long and his Wildcats ran the clock out from there.
Rabbitt and his Panthers (8-3) aren’t done yet. They’ll meet Lynn Tech in the second edition of the young crosstown rivalry Wednesday (5) at Manning Field with a CAC Small title at stake.
“Our guys know this game,” Rabbitt said. “They know Tech. We’ll heal up, lift and watch some film. We’ll give it everything we have left in the tank Wednesday.”
