HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Brockton looking for more after crushing loss to Franklin

FRANKLIN – On Sept. 17, 2021, the Brockton High football team suffered a 37-7 loss to Franklin in the second week of the season.

On Friday, a day short of its one-year anniversary, the Boxers played the same Franklin Panthers, this time on the road, and came away with a nearly identical result: a 37-6 loss.

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A little comparing and contrasting, the first quarter of last year's game finished at a 7-7 tie before it unraveled. Friday's matchup featured a competitive back-and-forth with Brockton's most threatening drive of the night and ending without a score, preluding a Franklin avalanche of 27 unanswered points in the second quarter.

A key difference, the 2021 Boxers dropped to 0-2 after the loss. This year's squad, however, opened the new season with a 13-6 victory over Barnstable in Week 1 and currently stands at 1-1 with its first home game of the season still ahead (against Lincoln-Sudbury on Sept. 23, 7 p.m.).

“They’re just well-coached. A lot of skill. The quarterback (Jase Lyons) is very good," Brockton head coach Peter Colombo said of Franklin, which finished one game away from the Div. 1 state title game a season ago. "We turned the ball over against a good team and you’re not going to win if that happens. We got behind the 8-ball and you saw what happened. We’ve got to learn from it. I told the boys that I’ve been through this before, we’ve had years where we’ve lost a Game 2 and been in (contention) at the end (of the season).”

Brockton's first drive was one of the bright spots of the night, despite Franklin's Cole Sidwell ending it with a pick and returning it back to near midfield. The Boxers' offense started at its own five and pushed it to a fourth-and-9 situation from the Panthers' 17-yard line.

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“We knew they had an aggressive D. Then again, you’re trying to force some plays and they did a good job of pressuring (new starting quarterback Joey Cappiello, who finished with one touchdown and two interceptions). We knew there were going to be some growing pains,” said Colombo. “I know he’ll get better.”

Franklin's defensive front stirred chaos all night long, forcing Cappiello to frantically scurry away from oncoming pressure.

“They’re very aggressive, very fast coming off the ball," senior left tackle Makhi Boston said. "I think as a unit, as an offensive line including me, we all need to be better. We need to see things faster and we just need to do our jobs.”

After Lyons scampered in for a touchdown from two yards out early in the second quarter, he connected with senior tight end Grayson Hunter on a 39-yard run-away reception to lead 13-0 with 4:13 to go until the half.

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It then turned into a nightmare for Brockton.

Lyons threw it up top for receiver Luke Davis in the corner of the end zone to give Franklin a 20-0 cushion with 1:02 left until the break. The Boxers' special teams unit misplayed the ensuing kickoff, and the Panthers recovered it at the Brockton 15-yard line. Then, as time expired, Lyons looped around for a 3-yard score and Franklin owned a resounding 27-0 advantage.

“Right now, it’s painful and disappointing to be beaten like that," Colombo said. "But we’ve got to put it behind us, learn from it and get better each week.”

One of the Boxers' highlights came deep in the fourth quarter, as Cappiello connected with senior standout receiver Cam Monteiro for a 53-yard score.

“I think this (improvement) is going to start at practice," Boston said. "This was a mental game where I think my team and I, we were a little slow at times and that can’t happen against a good team like Franklin. We have a lot of good guys who can make plays on the other side of the ball but when you’re slow, things happen. And that showed tonight so it starts at practice. It starts mentally and that all needs to be fixed by next week.”

All eyes are currently fixed on improvement next Friday against Lincoln-Sudbury. Perhaps a little home cooking at Marciano Stadium will relight the winning ways from Week 1 against a formidable Barnstable team, where Brockton moved for 214 yards of total yards in a tightly-contested 13-6 final.

“I’m really excited. I think the energy is going to be very (cool) but I’m more worried about winning this game," Boston said of the first home game. "I don’t want to get a negative record so we need to get our things together, then we can worry about the energy that everybody else will bring.”

“If we can learn from this and come back next week, get a win, get to 2-1 and put this in the rearview and just try to get better every week," said Colombo.

"It’ll be good to be at Marciano next week and hopefully we can get this thing on the right track.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton High Football drops convincing loss to Franklin