Hawks feast on Brockton turnovers
By Chris Forsberg 
Globe Correspondent, 9/29/2002

XAVERIAN 13, BROCKTON 7

WESTWOOD - After a season-opening loss to Fitchburg, there
were questions whether Xaverian was the same football
juggernaut it had been the past few seasons.

It wasn't very pretty, but Xaverian proved its mettle with a
13-7 upset of third-ranked Brockton yesterday at the Hawk
Bowl in Westwood.

''Nobody gave us much of a chance in this game after the
loss to Fitchburg,'' said Xaverian coach Charlie Stevenson,
whose charges rebounded with a victory over Waltham last
week. ''Give our team credit. It picked itself right back up
and now we have a lot of confidence heading into our
Catholic Conference schedule.''

The Hawks (2-1) converted two first-half Brockton turnovers
into all the points they would need and in the second half,
the defense came up big.

Brockton (2-1) struggled in the first half, mustering just
one first down and only 45 yards of total offense.

Boxer quarterback Dominique Beck was intercepted by John
Costantino late in the first quarter. Starting at the
Brockton 15, Xaverian pounded the ball with fullback Shane
Hopkins, who plunged in from 1 yard for a 7-0 advantage with
1:11 remaining in the first frame.

Brockton provided Xaverian with excellent field position
late in the second quarter when Brandon Hill fumbled trying
to field a punt and Justin Macione recovered for Xaverian at
the Brockton 13. Hopkins rushed three times, scoring from 3
yards for a 13-0 advantage.

`'We just weren't ready to play in the first half,'' said
Brockton coach Armond Colombo. ''I guess we woke up too
late.

''We didn't play like we normally do today. We played like a
poor football team. We didn't deserve to win.''

The lone bright spot of the first half for the Boxers came
when Hopkins fumbled inside the Brockton 10-yard line just
before halftime, giving the Boxers some much needed
confidence.

Brockton had success moving the ball in the second half and
finally got on the scoreboard with a five-play, 58-yard
scoring drive midway through the fourth quarter. Beck
completed three passes for 40 yards before senior running
back Tyronne Pruitt scored from 16 yards.

Brockton got the ball back with 2:55 remaining and drove to
the Xaverian 16, converting a pair of fourth downs along the
way, but Randy Fitzpatrick couldn't hold on to Beck's pass
on fourth and 2.

Brockton outgained Xaverian, 165-23, in the second half and
210-106 for the game, but Xaverian escaped with the victory.

''We would have liked some more first downs in the second
half, but we'll take the victory,'' said Stevenson. ''We
probably got a little too conservative in the second half
with our play-calling. Luckily, our defense stepped up when
it had to.''

Pruitt rushed for a game-high 81 yards on 22 carries, while
Beck was 10-of-23 passing for 91 yards and a pair of
interceptions.

Hopkins had a team-high 58 yards rushing on 18 carries and
two scores. Quarterback Zack Asack was 3 of 7 for 31 yards
and an interception.

Xaverian opens league play next week against Malden
Catholic, while Brockton hosts top-ranked St. John's Prep.

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