PEABODY — Behind a stellar performance from the quarterback-receiver duo of Steven Woods and Jason Romans, the No. 3 Bishop Fenwick football team took home a dominating 42-13 win over No. 11 Hudson in a Division 5 quarterfinal game at Donaldson Stadium Friday night.
Woods completed 15-of-29 passes for 271 yards and four touchdowns in the win, while Romans caught five passes for an eye-popping 174 yards and two touchdowns. Tight ends Aidan Breen and Mike Zaimi each caught a touchdown pass for Fenwick, while running backs Troy Irizarry and Luke Connolly each rushed for a touchdown.
The Crusaders kicked off to Hudson to open the game, but the Crusaders got the ball back quickly when Romans snatched an interception and returned it nearly 30 yards into the red zone. On the very next play, Irizarry broke through the line and rushed 16 yards for the score to make it a 7-0 Fenwick lead.
The Crusaders forced a punt on the ensuing drive and got pinned at their own 20, but that didn’t matter much. On the first play of the drive, Woods connected with Romans. The pass went 25 yards in the air, but Romans out-jumped a defender for the catch, juked another defender out of his shoes and raced 80 yards to the house — giving Fenwick a 14-0 lead after one quarter.
Hudson got on the scoreboard early in the second on a 33-yard touchdown run from quarterback Quinn O’Brien, but that was the last touchdown the Hawks would see until the final play of the game.
It was all Fenwick the rest of the way, as the Crusaders quickly responded when Woods connected with Romans on a 43-yard touchdown pass. Woods later added a two-yard touchdown pass to Breen in the final seconds of the half to take a 28-7 lead into the break.
Things continued in Fenwick’s favor in the second half, with Woods finding Zaimi on a 15-yard slant late in the third quarter to make it 35-7. Connolly added a 35-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter and the Crusaders coasted to victory from there.
Fenwick (8-2) moves on to the Division 5 semifinal and will take on either No. 2 Swampscott or No. 7 Dover-Sherborn next Friday (TBD) at a neutral site.