TOPSFIELD — When people think of the great Masconomet running back performances over the years names like Evan Bunker, Chris Splinter, Tim Gale and Steve Chu come to mind.
Now, you can add Scott Foden to the list.
At home last night against Newburyport, Foden raced and rumbled his way for four scores and nearly 300 yards as the Chieftains held on to defeat the Clippers 27-21 on homecoming night.
For a such a tough and energized runner, Foden’s pregame ritual is a bit surprising.
“I went fishing before the game to relax. It’s what I always do and i guess I just got in the zone when it came time,” said Foden with the game-ball tucked securely under his arm. “It feels pretty insane. I used to watch Mike Tivinis and Evan Bunker absolutely kill it, but I never thought I’d be here. I just played football because it looked fun, but now I’m here and it’s pretty crazy.”
Foden scored rushing touchdowns of two and 10 yards in the first quarter, added a 37-yard touchdown scamper in the third and then finished off the impressive rushing performance with a 26-yard touchdown in the final minute. In total, he amassed 289 yards on just 17 touches with nine of those rushes going for over 10 yards.
Whether it was straight handoffs up the middle or on the counter play, Fodden showed excellent vision, great speed and a couple of tough stiff arms. And of course when the Clippers tried a late onside kick down just six points, it was Foden who recovered the ball and sealed the victory.
His partner in the backfield Gavin Monagle was no slouch either, churning out 112 yards on 20 carries.
“We had a lot of kids make a lot of big plays and Scott obviously had a helluva night,” said Pugh. “We’ve come to expect that.”
The game was never out of reach, though, thanks to spectacular play from Newburyport senior signal caller Michael Shay who tossed for 296 yards completing 12-of-17 pass attempts-no easy feat against a vicious Masco pass rush that registered a handful of sacks.
Shay scored on a three-yard run and also connected with Thomas Isabel for a 25-yard touchdown pass after the Clippers executed the two-minute drill to perfection going 54 yards in a little over 30 seconds on three plays-all completed passes by Shay. Tyler Therrien finished with 126 yards receiving on three catches.
“We kind of thought we could do some stuff with what they were giving us with the secondary. Michael Shay was on today and it just opened up a lot of other things. It kind of made the offense click no matter what we were doing,” said Clippers coach Ed Gaudiano. “We just came through I think.”
While Masco’s defensive effort wasn’t nearly where it needs to be if the Chieftains want to do damage in the upcoming playoffs, the hosts did make some big, game-changing plays on that side of the ball.
Late in the first half with Newburyport driving, Corey Tines jumped an out route to come away with a big interception. He lost his helmet after a facemask in the process of the interception on a really gutsy play. Then, senior captain and middle linebacker Steve O’Reilly made a great read on a Shay drop back, picking off the Clippers QB in Masco territory with the Chieftains ahead 21-14 late in the fourth quarter.
Jack Butt was a force at defensive end recording a pair of sacks while forcing Shay into one of his five incompletions.
“It was a great win and that’s the bottom line,” said Pugh. “It’s another step. It wasn’t pretty but we made some nice plays. We got better tonight and we got a ‘W’.”
