WESTWOOD — Some things remain constant. The sun rises. It sets. Xaverian advances to yet another Super Bowl.
For the fourth straight year, the Hawks reigned victorious in the Division 1 South final, stifling BC High, 17-0, on Friday night behind a defensive effort for the ages.
Xaverian (9-1) will play the winner of Saturday’s North final between Andover and Everett on Dec. 3, looking for its third straight state championship.
“We played great football on both sides of the ball, particularly in the second half,’’ said coach Charlie Stevenson. “We moved the ball when we wanted to and played great defense. Our guys really believe in what we’re doing.’’
The Hawks’ defensive front lived up to its reputation, sacking BC High quarterback Connor Cady seven times and holding the Eagles to fewer than 50 yards of total offense. BC junior running back Danny Abraham gained just 9 yards on 10 carries.
“We had a good defensive front,’’ said senior defensive back Mekhi Henderson. “They were getting to the QB and making him scramble around, so it was really easy for the secondary to just lock up on the receivers. We knew we were going to shut down their run game.’’
It was Xaverian’s fifth shutout, one of which came when the teams met in the regular season’s final week by the same 17-0 margin.
Meanwhile on offense, it was senior running back Devon Piccinin who provided the headaches for BC High’s vaunted linebacking core. Piccinin finished with 135 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.
“We started running power [in the second half] and just [ran] the ball down their throats,’’ said Piccinin. “I’m not going to beg for the ball but as many times as I can get it, I like it. I like going head to head with people.’’
There was just one score in the first half: a 25-yard field goal from junior Brian Fallon. It wasn’t until its second possesion of the third quarter that Xaverian began opening up the playbook.
The Hawks finally found pay dirt with 5:55 left in the third, a 9-yard touchdown run from junior Ike Irabor putting Xaverian on top, 10-0. The scamper followed a 24-yard keeper by quarterback Mattison Cronin, one of only two plays to exceed 20 yards from scrimmage.
BC High (6-3) couldn’t stop the onslaught.
After the Eagles’ second straight series resulting in negative yardage, Xaverian put together its longest drive (64 yards), incorporating Henderson on three completions deep into BC High territory.
Setting up at the Eagles 14, Stevenson turned to Piccinin. The senior didn’t disappoint, carrying a pile of defenders into the end zone for a 17-0 lead with 25 seconds to play in the third, putting the game on ice.
With just one loss in their last 32 games, Piccinin didn’t seem concerned looking ahead to his final Super Bowl as a Hawk.
“I think if our line blocks like they can, we’re going to do just fine.’’
Owen Pence can be reached at owen.pence@globe.com.
