HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Blue Hills' 10-game winning streak was born out of heartbreak

BROCKTON – The last time the Blue Hills Regional High football team lost was in November 2019.

In fact, the Warriors most recent losses both came at the hands of South Shore Vocational Technical High School, each in devastating fashion.

The first of which came on Nov. 2 in the Division 8 South Sectional quarterfinal. The Warriors built a 30-0 lead, only to see it shockingly slip away, resulting in a 42-36 double-overtime loss. Three weeks later, the two teams met again with even bigger stakes. Playing in the semifinals of the small school vocational state playoffs, the Vikings erased another halftime deficit to win 26-22. South Shore Tech went on to win the state crown.

“I remember seeing guys walk off that field, that I looked up to, crying,” said 2021 senior captain John Ierardi. “It meant a lot to me. That’s when I knew it’s time to lock it in the next two years.”

The Warriors haven’t lost since. 

More:H.S. FOOTBALL: New Blue Hills coach Ed Madden follows in his mentor's footsteps

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Start of the Blue Hills win streak

They rebounded in 2019 to start a now 10-game winning streak with a 38-0 triumph over Bristol-Plymouth on Thanksgiving. During a Fall II season that ended in April and was completely unpredictable, Blue Hills finished 6-0 with three one-score wins. Now with a new coach at the helm in Ed Madden, although he’s a familiar face, and following Thursday’s 28-22 win over Southeastern, the Warriors are 3-0.

According to Danny Ventura at the Boston Herald, that’s the state’s third-longest active winning streak, behind with Marblehead (11) and Mansfield (19).

As much as those losses hurt at the time, the lessons learned have proved beneficial in the long run.

“It was really tough, we lost to South Shore three times in one year (there was also a 28-22 regular-season loss) and the team was really devastated,” said Madden, who was an assistant for 15 years before taking over as head coach this fall. “It was really tough, it was tough on everybody but you know what? They played well. I always tell the kids that if you just play as hard as you can and you lose, you gave it your best. We competed. Defeat, defeat is an education. If you get defeated, you get to educate yourself. So maybe we took those three defeats and we obviously learned a couple things and I’m glad that these underclassmen have been able to keep it going.”

A look back at the 2019 Blue Hills team

The 2019 version of the Warriors was led by a deep senior class. Blue Hills had more than 20 seniors on that team, so this year’s seniors served more as witnesses than participants to those devastating defeats.

“It was heartbreaking as a sophomore seeing the guys, those seniors, they teach you stuff,” said senior captain and quarterback Anthony Graziano, of Holbrook. “At Blue Hills you’re really connected to your seniors. It’s just love, that’s what Blue Hills is."

Following the double-OT loss in 2019 to South Shore Tech, Blue Hills coach Ed Catabia, who retired as coach following the Fall II season, had this to say.

More:H.S. FOOTBALL: Ed Catabia ends 42-year run at Blue Hills on Thursday

“They’re vocational kids and vocational kids, they don’t quit,” said Catabia, who is still the athletic director at Blue Hills. “They just keep fighting and fighting. It doesn’t make any difference what the score is.”

That quote was directed at the Vikings' ability to battle back from a 30-0 deficit, but has turned out to be quite prophetic about his own bunch.

Second-half comeback against Southeastern

Plenty of the lessons taken from those setbacks in 2019 were on full display Thursday night against Southeastern. The Warriors had two first-quarter fumbles that gave the Hawks prime field position. One resulted in a stellar goal-line stand, but the other resulted in an early Southeastern lead.

More:H.S. FOOTBALL: Southeastern Regional driven to shrug off winless Fall II season

Southeastern senior captain Jovanni Cruz recovered a fumble on a muffed handoff at the Blue Hills 14-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Nick Levine threw a 5-yard TD pass to Logan Koxias. Even when penalties pushed the 2-point attempt back to the 21, the Hawks scored when Levine completed a pass up the seam to Joseph Tully for an quick 8-0 lead.

Touchdown runs from Caiden Montas (39 yards) and Jake Reissfelder (1) put Blue Hills up 14-8, but the Hawks scored on their next two possessions to take a 22-14 lead in the second half.

Levine led a five-play, 54-yard scoring drive before halftime. He capped that drive with a 10-yard TD pass to Tully. That combination capped a five-play, 56-yard drive with a 11-yard connection. Levine ran for the 2-point attempt.

Those 2019 losses to the Vikings showed the Warriors that games are won in the second half.

“It’s like a bad dream for me that happened three times,” said Ierardi. “We were a first-half team in those games and now if you look at some of these games, we’re definitely a second-half team. You need to be the second-half team or you don’t win.” 

The Warriors had a quick answer after falling behind 22-14 against the Hawks. On a fourth-and-4, Montas took a run on a double handoff, made one cut and was gone for a 40-yard TD. 

Blue Hills made a couple defensive stands and took advantage of a short field when the Hawks were unable to get a punt off and turned the ball over on their own 16. Two runs from Reissfelder, a 7-yard run following by a 9-yard TD run, was enough to put the Warriors up 28-22. 

The Warriors took over possession with 7:34 remaining nursing a 28-22 lead and never gave it back. Putting the ball in the hands of Reissfelder, Montas and Eric Mann, Blue Hills drained the remaining clock with an 11-play drive.

The Hawks drop to 0-2 but they’ve shown promise. Southeastern opened the year with a 20-13 loss to Greater New Bedford Voke. In week two, the Hawks found out on game day that their opponent, Upper Cape Tech, had to pull out due to COVID issues.

“I am proud of this team,” said Southeastern coach Dominique Williams. “It’s hard dealing with COVID restrictions and regulations. It was an hour before the kids got dismissed from school that we found out we were weren’t going to play (last week). I don’t care what you say, it’s going to take the wind out of your sail at some point but we responded back. We came out, we got better today, we’ve just to got to finish. There’s little things that we’ve got to tighten up but we’ll get ready for the next opponent.”

For Blue Hills, Reissfelder (18 carries for 89 yards) and Montas (12 carries for 144 yards) led the way.

“(They”re) so tough,” said Madden of Reissfelder and Montas. “And they’re very positive. That’s why I really love them. They’re young and they’re also leaders. They really do put the team first and it’s just great to have players like that that you can give the ball to in a huge, pivotal play. Just in a crucial movement you can give them the ball and they exceed expectations.”

While in the moment, Blue Hills won’t bask in the glory of the winning streak as there’s plenty more football to play. But they also forget how some setbacks shaped the current state of the team.

“We had the same attitude we had last year as this year,” said Blue Hills senior captain Joseph Dicalogero. “Don’t complain and do not blame, that’s it.”

“We keep pushing,” said Graziano. “We have kids who will fight for the extra yard every single time. It’s amazing to see, it’s really beautiful.”