High School Gameday: Xaverian outlasts Bishop Feehan in overtime season opener

WESTWOOD, Mass. — Boston 25’s first High School Gameday of the season featured a game-of-the-year candidate between Bishop Feehan and Xaverian.

The Xaverian Brothers Hawks hosted the Bishop Feehan Shamrocks in the season opener. Both schools competed for a state title last year, with Xaverian taking home a third-straight Div. I title and Bishop Feehan finishing as the Div. II runner-up.

Friday’s opening game in Westwood was a back-and-forth battle.

Bishop Feehan found the end zone early when Xaverian fumbled the opening kickoff. The Shamrocks recovered and took advantage of the favorable field position. Shamrocks captain Xavier Baker rushed for a 16-yard touchdown, but Bishop Feehan missed the extra point. Xaverian found itself trailing 6-0 in the opening plays of the game.

Later in the first quarter, the Hawks found an answer. Penn State quarterback commit Will Wood slung a 16-yard pass to James Goedde, who rolled through contact, not officially going down, and scampered into the end zone. Xaverian took the lead on that hustle play, 7-6 with 2:40 left in the first quarter.

The Hawks tacked on another touchdown in the second quarter when Wood linked up with Jackson Holmes on a 62-yard catch-and-score touchdown. Xaverian had a 14-6 lead, but Bishop Feehan responded soon after.

Baker struck again for the Shamrocks, running the rock 81 yards down the field for the longest score of the game. With that, Bishop Feehan came within a point, trailing 14-13.

Will Wood took the game into his own hands and punched in a 19-yard quarterback scramble touchdown before halftime. Xaverian led 21-13 at the break.

Bishop Feehan came out of halftime hot, scoring two-straight touchdowns. Quarterback Ty Cinelli linked up with Dexter Izzo through the air for a 76-yard score. The Shamrocks followed that with another Cinelli-Izzo touchdown to take the lead 29-21 over Xaverian.

Late in the third quarter, the Hawks clawed back in the game as Wood hit Sargent Chizmadia for a 43-yard passing touchdown. Xaverian opted for the two-point conversion and converted to tie the game 29-29 with 1:37 left in the third quarter.

The back-and-forth continued with Wood slinging the rock to Jonathan Santosuosso for a 25-yard, go-ahead score. Xaverian jumped ahead on that, 36-29.

Bishop Feehan’s Ty Cinelli rose to the occasion, rushing for a one-yard touchdown to tie the game again, 36-36, with 5:46 left in regulation.

In the final seconds of the game, still even 36-36, Xaverian lined up for the game-winning field goal, and Bishop Feehan’s Colin Van De Giesen rushed in to block the kick. His clutch effort forced overtime in Westwood.

In the extra period, the Shamrocks missed a field goal, thus opening the door for Xaverian to walk off with a win.

And that’s exactly what the Hawks did. Wood scrambled, rolled out, and eventually tossed the game-winning touchdown pass to Conor Keane. The Hawks rushed the field to celebrate their first win of the season, a 42-36 overtime victory over Bishop Feehan.

After the game, Xaverian head coach Al Fornaro acknowledged the exciting ending, also indicating a need for improvement for his team.

“I’m pretty sure the fans got their money’s worth,” Fornaro said. “They got the extra money for the overtime. Obviously, it’s always better when you win a game like that, but they know now if they didn’t know already that we have a lot of work to do.”

Xaverian quarterback Will Wood tipped his cap to the Shamrocks after that result.

“They are a really well-coached team,” Wood said. “Obviously, we’re supposed to win that game, but they played their hearts out and they gave us all that we could handle, to be honest.”

Next week, Xaverian will visit Everett and Bishop Feehan will also be on the road to face Attleboro.

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