Norwood Goes on the Road and Defeats Braintree, 37-0

Last night Norwood spoiled senior night for Braintree, scoring early and often and coming away with the win, 37-0.

“We got some good consistency and some tempo,” Norwood coach John Sarianides said. “The last two weeks we’ve scored 78 points. That’s a pretty good feeling going into Thanksgiving to have that kind of momentum on offense.”

After a Braintree punt and turnovers by both teams to start the game, the Mustangs showed how explosive they can be when senior quarterback Tommy Munro connected with senior fullback Joe Ciavattone for a 31-yard gain. Senior running back Andrew Alty then took a handoff 18 yards on t he next play, setting up first-and-goal from the 3. On the very next play Ciavattone ran the ball in for the touchdown, giving the Mustangs an early 7-0 lead (after the PAT).

That possession set the tone for the game. Braintree struggled to get their offense going, while Norwood was moving the ball all over the field with a number of different backs, not to mention Munro’s arm.

“We try to spread the ball around,” Sarianides said. “We knew with Andrew [Alty] nicked up we needed to get other guys involved. Ken Stokes stepped it up. Kyle Skinner was immense for us. He played the majority of the game at tail. Then you mix in Tommy Munro who gives you that other element.”

Norwood went into halftime with a 31-0 lead.

The Mustangs weren’t done, though. They opened up the third quarter by driving 68 yards on 7 plays, including a 45-yard touchdown pass from Munro to senior wide receiver Brendan Cathcart.

“The execution’s not what it has to be,” Braintree coach Brian Chamberlain said. “We’re giving up too many plays. Everything they ran we knew they were going to run. We just didn’t stop it. I don’t think our front seven played very well and I think they’d admit that.”

The Mustangs took out some of their starters for most of the fourth quarter, and the Wamps also gave some playing time to some of their freshmen, something Chamberlain mentioned as being a good opportunity for the younger kids (Braintree’s freshmen team is 8-2).

With the win, Norwood improves to 6-4, while Braintree drops to 3-7. Both teams have only one game remaining this year: the annual Thanksgiving Day game. Braintree will play at Milton, and Norwood will be playing at Dedham.