Football Suffers Defeat, But Stays Optimistic Despite Loss, Choate Remains in the Running for New England’s
By Rohit Shankar ’09
News Staff Reporter
The season has gotten off to a very exciting start for the 2007 incarnation of Choate Football. With two great second half comebacks on Choate’s home field against Kent and Exeter. But this past week Choate faced a very difficult challenge, losing by the narrowest of margins, 8-11, against Phillips Andover. Even with the one blemish on the now 2-1 record for the year, the prospects for this year’s Choate squad are the brightest in several years.
The two games against Kent and Exeter showed that the Choate squad can beat most teams in many different ways. In the first game of the year, under the lights, Choate utilized its passing attack to come back from what seemed to be an insurmountable 17-6 deficit. As the final quarter approached during that game, Choate’s chances of winning its first ever night game seemed slim. But with only 5 minutes showing on the game clock, the passing game, with the help of the vaunted rushing attack of Phil Artis ’08, Brandon Basso ’08, and Evan Jackson ’10, came to life. Suddenly, quarterback Nick Goodspeed ’08 began finding star wide receiver Mike Rice ’08 open for spectacular catches almost every play. This would lead to a game-winning touchdown run by Goodspeed, cementing Choate’s miraculous victory.
In the second game of the year, the team moved the ball in a completely different way. Though much of the total yardage gained against Kent was through the offense’s great running game, Choate passed for a total of 152 yards which made for a balanced offensive attack. But during the game against Exeter, Choate played the sort of hard-nosed, grind-it-out game that we rarely see.
Play after play, Choate ran the ball with tosses out wide to sophomore Evan Jackson (20 carries for 102 yards), and powerful inside runs by Brandon Basso (15 carries for 121 yards). Even receiver Mike Rice got in on the rushing attack, scoring a first quarter touchdown on a reverse play. The powerful running game kept Exeter’s defense on the field, wearing them down till Choate was able to score one final touchdown to take a 14-10 lead and clinch the game.
The most astounding stat of the game was that all but 6 of the total 253 yards gained by Choate’s offense were through the rushing attack. The defensive front and secondary held firm and only allowed limited gains by the Exeter offense. Defensive Ends Roy Collins ’09 and Jay Harbaugh ’08 pressured the quarterback persistently, which allowed the secondary to make some great plays. Both the Kent and Exeter games showed tremendous improvement from last year and potential for the year to come.
The biggest overall change in the team this year has come not from the new post graduates or the many experienced returning players, but from the effort and determination the squad has shown thus far. Captain Ben Pascale ’08 has been extremely pleased: “Every day we push ourselves to work hard…Out of the three years I’ve been on this team, this is the hardest-working team I have played for. We’ve really meshed as a unit because of it.” This has been clearly evident in the way the team has performed this season. The offensive line has improved from last year. Headed by three new Post Graduates, Will Elmore ’08, Kyle Seddon ’08, and Mike Gabriel ’08, the o-line has paved the way for many bruising and tough runs by Choate’s running backs. This push up front was not nearly as evident last year, and has allowed Choate’s backs to run free into the secondary. Pascale summed it up best, “We have the bodies and attitude to do great things. I’m not surprised [with the results] but I’m not satisfied either and neither is anyone else.”
The most recent game last week against Andover ended in a tough defeat. As Evan Jackson said, “It was a rough game. We missed out some opportunities that ended up costing up big.” However, that was not the only storyline. The officiating during the game was so poor that the team has apparently appealed the result of the game. This is most evident on one of the final plays of the game, which should have resulted in a touchdown for Choate, but was called back due to a phantom holding penalty. The loss was difficult to swallow, but despite such setbacks the team’s effort and passion in games are sure to lead them to several victories during the rest of the year. They face several major roadblocks in teams such as Lawrenceville and Deerfield, but the team is poised to possibly make a New England Bowl Game.
Choate’s defense stepped up on Saturday and held Andover to eleven points. However, the Boars failed to score on the last drive of the game and lost 11-8. PHOTO/Madeleine Foote ’11
