Nashoba football beat Marlboro this past Saturday with the score of  21 – 19 in the Central Mass Division 4 final. On that frigid morning, the Panthers and Chieftains went head to head in a close battle, which brought them  into overtime with a score of 13-13 in regulation.

Breese Hill tied it up with Marlboro by scoring the first touchdown for the Chieftains, while Alex Childs had 22 carries, 84 yards and the winning touchdown. Defense throughout this game was very strong which allowed them to stop Marlboro from getting the 2 point conversion in overtime. After Marlboro’s failed attempt, it was Nashoba’s turn with the ball in overtime. They had only 4 downs and 2 point conversion to win this game; the boys were in a tight game.

The drive was impressive as Sam Bolinksy snuck in for the TD, bringing the score to 19-19 with only one minute left in overtime. The team needed a 2 point play to win the game. Bolinsky huddled his team together and with a snap off to Childs he pushed right into the end zone, winning the game for Nashoba. The players and crowd went crazy as they celebrated. Both teams played their hearts out. The Sentinel & Enterprise interviewed Coach Tucker who stated, “Every time we play those guys it’s a battle… I can’t speak highly enough about how hard our kids played today. We knew it was going to be a game like that and a physical battle. It comes down to a few plays and it did”.

Nashoba ended their season with a record of 9-1; they accomplished the CMASS D4 title, and became the  Mid Watch B League champions. The team was  undefeated with a record of 6-0 going into week 7. The boys were also ranked 3rd of the top 10 CMASS football teams according to Carl Setterland of TGSports.

Nashoba’s  offense this season was on fire. Both Kyle Hume and Breese Hill scored many of  the team’s touchdowns and kicker Aidan Gross helped  bring the team to victories by making extra points. QB, Sam Bolinsky, says “This season was such a growing season for us as a team and [for] me personally; it is nice to play thoroughly and we have grown and gotten so much better from the start”.

Nashoba’s  defense was also very strong this season, which made it tough on other teams to score.

The team is now off to Gillette Stadium for the State Championship game. Nashoba will play the winner of the state semifinal game between North Champs Melrose and Hopkinton, which will be determined this Saturday, November 18th . This is Nashoba’s 4th appearance at Gillette in the past 6 years for a State Championship game. Nashoba won back-to-back championships in 2011 & 2012 by Coach Ken Tucker. It was his son and current coach, Jamie Tucker, who kept the legacy going for Nashoba football by bringing them to another Superbowl State Championship in 2015. The big question is: can he bring one home again this year?

Breese Hill stated in a recent article from the Telegram how he felt about going back to Gillette: “[It’s an] unbelievable feeling, so proud of this team and I can’t begin to explain how hard we worked. I honestly can’t explain how it feels to go back there”.  The current seniors were only sophomores at the time of the 2015 team Gillette appearance. Now, the seniors are looking forward to the upcoming game. The game will be on December 2nd with a time to be determined later. The tribe is definitely needed for this big game, as the boys could potentially take home another state title.