Newton North 23, Framingham 21: Menninger boots Tigers to football triumph

The Newton North football team had already seen this story play out in reverse this season.

Now it was the Tigers’ turn to get the last laugh.

At one time leading by a comfortable 20-point margin in their Bay State Conference tilt with Framingham, the Tigers looked up at the scoreboard with just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and found themselves trailing by a point.

But instead of looking at it as a blown lead, the Tigers saw it as an advantage. They had given themselves precious breathing room – just enough to weather the Flyers’ storm.

And, ultimately, Framingham left the Tigers just enough time to stage a late rally of their own.

North senior Nate Menninger hit a 22-yard field goal with 3:54 remaining in the game, and the Tigers defense came up with a huge stop on fourth-and-1 on the Flyers’ next drive, as North outlasted Framingham 23-21 Saturday at North High.

The thrilling victory came two weeks after North rallied from a 19-0 deficit in the fourth quarter of the season opener against Waltham, only to fall, 26-20, on a Waltham touchdown pass with six seconds left in the game.

“I give them credit, they played well and we didn’t,” said Framingham coach Gary Doherty. “We didn’t roll over and play dead, but we didn’t do what we needed to do to finish the game.”

Framingham (1-2) took a 21-20 lead on a 15-yard touchdown run from junior Matt Cronin with 7:37 remaining in the fourth quarter.

But a Tigers offense that had been asleep since the first half suddenly woke up.

The Tigers started their next drive at the 40 after the kickoff went out of bounds.

Junior option-quarterback Joe Mariano sparked the offense with a 35-yard dash that started a 10-play drive, culminating in the go-ahead field goal, which gave the Tigers a 23-21 lead.

“That was great,” said North coach Peter Capodilupo. “We practice all the time on balance. We were trying to get to the middle of the field but (running back) Nate Menninger broke to the right side and made it a little harder for himself. But he did a nice job of coming back and kicking it.”

Framingham took over at the 20, but after three plays found itself facing a fourth-and-6. An offsides penalty on North left Framingham just one yard from a conversion, leading Doherty to call Cronin’s number.

But the Tigers (2-1) had the play scouted well, shooting the right gap and cutting Cronin down well behind the line of scrimmage.

“Even though we gave up those touchdowns the kids were determined to hold them,” Capodilupo said.

From there, North picked up a first down on third-and-3 and ran out the clock.

“Playing Framingham is like sitting on dynamite,” said Capodilupo. “Their quarterback is one of the best quarterbacks in the state. It was a great game plan from us and the kids executed. The fact that we could come back like that was a great thing for this team. We always say that football doesn’t build character, it reveals character, and they showed a lot of it out there today.”

To start the game, North won the toss and elected to receive, marching down the field on 11 plays with senior quarterback Ryan Byrne punching it in from one yard out on third-and-goal, with the PAT giving the Tigers a 7-0 lead at 6:37.

Framingham started at the 11 on the ensuing possession, but a botched play resulted in disaster for the Flyers as senior Jack Ingham jumped the route and picked off senior quarterback Greg Finley (16 for 26, 132 yards), walking into the end zone to put North up 13-0.

“We missed a block,” said Doherty. “Someone missed a block and it turned into six points.”

Menninger (15 carries, 143 yards) extended the Tigers’ lead on the last play of the first quarter on an incredible 61-yard touchdown run, breaking two tackles and keeping his balance after nearly being dragged down at midfield, with the Tigers going up 20-0.

Senior running back Alec Yerardi put Framingham on the board with 50 seconds remaining in the first half with a 5-yard touchdown run on first-and-goal before capping off an 11-play drive to open the second half with a 1-yard score, cutting the deficit to 20-14.

North next travels to Natick on Friday night.