In the craziest comeback in Masconomet history, the Chieftains’ fourth-quarter dominance propelled them to their first-ever Northeast Conference title over Marblehead, 45-42, last Friday night.
The game was said to be over, and fans were on their way out—it seemed impossible. But with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter, a freight-train running back, a red-hot quarterback, and some magic from a tandem of brothers proved that anything—and that means anything—is possible.
“This win was huge for us. I mean, to come from behind like that was just unreal,” said Bentley-bound captain and receiver Cal Weidman. “With Gustafson under center and Fabiano in the backfield, we can do anything. We’ve been preaching in the locker room, ‘family, family, family,’ and I think tonight we became a true family and stuck together. It’s a huge win, but this team is not done. There are bigger goals for us. First NEC championship for this program, and hopefully, this is the start of a change in the NEC.”
Marblehead dominated in the first half with its powerful rushing attack and capitalized on several Masconomet errors in the second to build a commanding lead. Even being down 17 points with 5:30 left on the clock, Masco refused to accept defeat.
After a muffed punt set up a touchdown run for senior quarterback Finn Gallup, everyone at Bunker Stadium thought the Magicians had the game in the bag.
A switch must’ve flipped in senior quarterback Drew Gustafson, as he showed flashes of Tom Brady down 28-3 against the Falcons in the final minutes. Only a couple of plays after the kickoff, he found sophomore receiver Trip Weidman for a 67-yard touchdown, giving the Chieftains a sliver of hope.
Masco then attempted another onside kick—their first had been called back earlier in the game due to a questionable call—and senior kicker Nicco Cefalo couldn’t have placed this one much better, giving Masco the ball back with 4:52 left in the game.
Masco retained possession, and only 14 seconds later, Cal Weidman (Trip’s older brother) torched the Magicians’ defensive back and hauled in a 49-yard dime from Gustafson. With a blocked extra point, the Chieftains were now down 42-38 with 4:14 to go.
After the Magicians had some lucky magic on a screen pass that bounced off a Chieftain’s hand to senior running back Breydan Callahan for a first down, the game seemed one first down away from being over. But with senior defensive studs linebacker Connor Mitchell and defensive end Lucas Magnifico leading the charge, the Chieftain defense was able to get a stop and force a punt.
With two timeouts and 85 yards to go in 2:23, the Chieftains had all the momentum in the world and a roaring fan section cheering them on.
When you need to march 85 yards in two minutes, teams are more than likely going to throw the ball, right? Well, not when you have one of the top running backs in the state in senior captain Jack Fabiano. Fabiano carried the ball on eight of the 11 plays during Masco’s no-huddle drive, totaling 63 yards and battering his way into the end zone with 18 seconds to go, giving the Chieftains a 45-42 lead.
Unfortunately for Masco, the Magicians had a little magic left in the tank as they completed a circus pass to reach the Masconomet 29 on a deep ball to sophomore receiver Owen Conye. This set up a 46-yard game-winning field goal attempt—but it was shanked short and right, delivering Masco their first NEC title and first win over Marblehead since joining the conference in 2020. As the fans stormed the field, it was nothing but smiling faces.
“I am so incredibly proud of all these guys,” said head coach Patrick Sheehan. “Most teams would have folded a lot of times—after the second half, after the screen pass they somehow came up with, after the lateral touchdown, after the fumbled punt. Most teams, every team I’ve coached, probably would have folded up their tents. It’s hard to come back in a football game down three scores at halftime. Honestly, I didn’t believe we had a chance to win until the very end. I was so proud of the fight they had, regardless of what was happening around them.”
Now, this game had some wild statistics.
To kick things off, Fabiano shattered most of Masco’s rushing records with his unreal performance. He took 42 carries for 338 yards and five touchdowns, totaling 370 all-purpose yards. Fabiano has had one of the most impressive two-game stretches in Masco history—and in the MIAA this year—as he’s taken 72 carries for 633 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. With his performance against Marblehead, Fabiano has now broken Masco’s single-season points and touchdown record of 24 with 28 touchdowns, as well as the single-game rushing record of 315 yards with 338. Keep in mind, Fabiano has only played in four of eight second halves this season and didn’t play the fourth quarter of the Billerica or Winchester games. Absurd.
“We know what our offense can do, and we just made the plays we needed to, and our defense made some huge stops. Getting the onside kick was also huge. Fabiano ran the ball, and the offensive line just dominated that last drive,” said Gustafson. “I honestly wasn’t going through many emotions during the last drive. I was just focused on scoring, and then the emotions poured out after. I just knew we could do it—I was focused on getting the ball in the end zone.”
Fabiano got what seemed like ten different interviews after the game due to his historic performance, but what often goes unnoticed is the big boys up front. The offensive line of senior captain guard Nino Stefanelli, center Alex Russo, guard Cam “Booch” Bucchiere, Colby-commit tackle Evan Velardo, and junior Athan King has been stellar all season—but on Friday night, they were spectacular. On that final drive, while Marblehead’s defensive line was understandably exhausted, Masco’s offensive line was not. Big Booch kept pulling to the outside as Fabiano followed behind the 6’5”, 350-pound Middleton native.
The offensive line also kept Gustafson protected all night long in the passing game. Gustafson had arguably his best game, throwing for a career-high 307 yards and two big fourth-quarter touchdowns. His go-to guy all season has been Cal Weidman, and once again, Weidman led all receivers Friday with 11 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown—including the grab that set up Fabiano’s one-yard game-winner. Senior receiver Liam Ginley also had himself a day with five catches for 77 yards, including an amazing grab that set up yet another Fabiano touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
This was Masco’s best offensive performance in the Sheehan era, as they tallied 642 yards of offense—423 of those coming in the second half alone.
“I think Marblehead played very good defense during this game. I think our ability to spread it around and pound the rock was too much for them at the end because they were tired,” said Weidman. “We also came out with more mojo, knowing we had nothing to lose and just played with more confidence. When our receivers are making those plays—like Trip’s touchdown and Liam’s unreal catch—we know Fabiano is going to do his thing. We feed off each other’s success, and I think that’s what happened in the fourth quarter on Friday.”
On the defensive side, Masco locked in after halftime. After allowing 264 yards in the first 24 minutes, the Chieftain defense rallied, giving up just 161 in the second half.
When big plays were needed, big stops happened. A perfect example came when Russo sacked Gallup to force a punt with Masco down 28-13 in the third. After being ripped apart in the first half by Marblehead’s quarterback pitch option, senior linebackers Alex Cantalupo and Achi Koutoulas adapted extremely well.
“We told them at halftime that, in the past two years, when the lights have been brightest, we haven’t played our best football—and that was exactly the case tonight for a long period of time. But our guys let it all hang out in the final minutes, and now we’re Northeast Conference champions.”
Another crazy fact: this was only Masco’s second time this season playing their starters for the majority of the fourth quarter. Every other game they’ve played had been decided by midway through the fourth. Heading into the playoffs, it was good for the Chieftains to experience a close game.
“This game prepares us well because we know what we’re capable of doing,” said Gustafson. “We didn’t play our best game, so that gives us a lot to work on, but we just have to continue to execute and play our best football.”
Masco’s student section, dressed in white hazmat suits for the “whiteout” theme, served as the twelfth man for the Chieftains, never stopping their chants—even when down 17 with 5:30 to go. It was the coolest atmosphere Masco sports has had in a long time.
The Magicians played 42 minutes and 30 seconds of flawless football, but all it took was those final 5:30 for the Chieftains to steal their magic. With bad blood, NEC championship aspirations, and playoff seeding on the line, this game lived up to the hype—and will be talked about for years to come in the Masconomet community.
The Chieftains now look forward to a much-needed bye week, where they’ll rest their bodies and get back in the lab. They’ll find out their playoff opponent and seeding on Sunday, with a strong probability of earning a home playoff game.
(Scoring plays and stats via the great Matt Williams of the Salem News)
Masconomet 45, Marblehead 42
at Walt Roberts Field, Boxford
Marblehead (6-1);14;14;0;14;42
Masconomet (7-1);6;7;6;26;45
Scoring summary
MHD — Breydan Callahan 32 run (Finbar Bresnahan kick)
MSC — Jack Fabiano 3 run (rush failed)
MHD — Tim Wales 4 pass from Finn Gallup (Bresnahan kick)
MHD — Callahan 28 run (Bresnahan kick)
MHD — Madden Lyons 14 run (Bresnahan kick)
MSC — Fabiano 39 run (Nicco Cefalo kick)
MSC — Fabiano 16 run (pass failed)
MHD — Callahan 42 run (Bresnahan kick)
MSC — Fabiano 9 run (pass failed)
MHD — Gallup 13 run (Bresnahan run)
MSC — Trip Weidman 67 pass from Drew Gustafson (Cefalo kick)
MSC — Cal Weidman 43 pass from Gustafson (kick blocked)
MSC — Fabiano 1 run (Cefalo kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Marblehead — Breydan Callahan 30-189, Finn Gallup 11-142, Madden Lyons 4-20, James Machado 2-10; Masconomet — Jack Fabiano 42-338, Drew Gustafson 4-(-3).
PASSING: Marblehead — Gallup 5-11-84-1-0; Masconomet — Gustafson 20-32-307-2-1.
RECEIVING: Marblehead — Owen Coyne 1-43, Callahan 1-17, Lyons 1-12, Trent Brown 1-8, Tim Wales 1-4; Masconomet — Cal Weidman 11-131, Liam Ginley 5-77, Trip Weidman 1-67, Fabiano 3-32.