Vikings Stun Flyers in 22-6 Upset Win

Hubert stars in victory over Framingham

Now do you believe?

Taking a page from some of the greatest teams in Winthrop High School football history, the Vikings stormed to a 22-6 victory over Framingham last Thursday night at Miller Field.

Framingham arrived in Winthrop with a 2-0 record, having scored 76 points in big wins over Brookline and Wellesley. They were a big, strong football team that was ranked the No. 1 public school in the Division 1 South sectional.

But senior fullback Bobby Hubert and his teammates shook off an early touchdown by Framingham and scored 22 unanswered points, some of which were of the spectacular variety.

As for Hubert, it was an exhibition of speed and power that was one-part Chucky Sullivan and one- part Jimmy Gillis.

Hubert had 25 rushes for 154 yards and one touchdown. He also scored on a two-point conversion.

There was some concern among the Viking faithful when Framingham scored on its opening possession on a 33-yard touchdown pass to take a 6-0. Head coach Jonathan Cadigan wondered how his team would respond to allowing its first points of the season after two convincing shutouts.

“I was intrigued to see if we did get down early, how we would bounce back,” said Cadigan. “And I think we answered that question pretty resoundingly.”

Assistant coach Bobby Nimblett went to the Vikings’ trick play book and a double-pass play from Duke Doherty to Mikey Chaves to Brian Conceicao produced a quick 45-yard touchdown. Hubert’s 9-yard touchdown made it 14-6 at the half.

Ryan Hovermale’s interception stopped the Framingham offense on one drive before Chaves struck again with a 17-yard return of an interception for a touchdown. Chris Ferrara made a game-sealing interception in the fourth quarter.

And the game ended with a fantastic class move by the Winthrop coaching staff: Framingham had called timeout with 42 seconds left in one last attempt to get the ball and start a miraculous comeback. Yes, a team can score 16 points in that amount of time (see 1968 Harvard-Yale game).

Instead, Hubert barrels inside the 5-yard line for a first down. Winthrop could have gone for another TD against the deflated Flyers, but Winthrop opted for the victory formation.

There’s a terrific lesson there.

Defense gets it done

The Winthrop defense clearly frustrated Framingham’s high-powered offense for the final three quarters.

Stevie Perullo and Ian Harris led the tackles-made sheet with six apiece. Other contributors for the defense were: Bobby Hubert, Victor Marques, Mikey Chaves, Chris Ferrara, Ryan Hovermale, Ian Harris, and Pete Jurovich, who had five tackles and was a formidable presence all game.