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Sports

KP Football Gets Huge Win Over North Attleboro 19-7

The Warriors get the win on homecoming weekend behind solid defense and a two-touchdown performance from Charles Ruffin.

Already with a loss against Mansfield, the King Philip Warriors could not afford another defeat.

A second loss at the hands of North Attleboro would put any hope of playing past Thanksgiving down the drain. At 5-0, the Red Rocketeers were not pushovers, nor would they be easy to defeat.

“When you're playing North, if you're undisciplined, then they’re gonna exploit it, so you have to be sound defensively,“ said King Philip coach Brian Lee.

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The Warriors did what no one else was able to do this year: shut down the Red Rocketeers. After sneaking by with three wins in a row by seven points or less, North Attleboro suffered their first loss of the season in a 19-7 victory for the Warriors.

Based on the first half alone, North Attleboro could have tied the game at least. After the Red Rocketeers were forced to punt on their opening drive, a fumbled catch on the punt return allowed North Attleboro to restart the drive at the KP eight-yard line.

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A couple of short runs got North Attleboro to the two-yard line for a third and goal. Red Rocketeers QB Spyro Varetimos’ pass to David Lang was stopped just short of the goal line for a fourth and goal at the one-yard line. A QB keeper by Varetimos was stopped by the defense, giving KP the ball and completing an impressive stop by the Warriors.

“That was huge. Everything kinda went wrong for us in the first half and we were still able to be up seven, so I was very happy,” said Lee. “The defense really just bailed us out.”

The Warriors finally got on the board after a 28-yard pass from John Dillon to Joe Cochrane put KP at the North Attleboro two-yard line. A handoff to Charles Ruffin was all the Warriors needed to take a 7-0 in the second quarter.

The defense continued to make life miserable for the Red Rocketeers as a sack and forced fumble by Jason Litchfield saw the ball bounce from the KP 42 all the way to the North Attleboro 37 yard line to set up a second and 29. The huge loss forced a North Attleboro.

Despite good defense, the Warriors couldn’t get close to the end zone again for the rest of the half. Even with 80 yards from running back Charles Ruffin, the Red Rocketeers always seemed to get the one stop needed to force a punt.

Things looked scary towards the end of the first half as Ruffin went down with an ankle injury. While he would return in the second half, it once again highlighted the issue of his bad ankle, and the difficulty of playing with it.

“It's just gonna be a labor here. He’s really dinged up. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. We needed him today and he came back and played. He knows he shouldn’t really be playing, but he’s sucking it up. He wants to be part of it,” Lee said.

Ruffin would return in time for the Warriors’ second series of the second half. Faced with a fourth and two at the North Attleboro 20-yard line, Ruffin converted with a 12-yard run to put the Warriors at the North Attleboro 10-yard line. Another 10-yard run was good enough for his second touchdown of the day. A missed extra point left the score at 13-0 in favor of the Warriors.

The defense continued to stop what normally is a solid running game by North Attleboro. Eliminating the running game, the Red Rocketeers were forced to go to the air at time to little to no success in most of the second half           

“We have a real good scheme and I think the kids are finally buying into that and play like a team,” said Lee.

The Warriors found themselves in the red zone once again after a 22-yard pass from Dillon to Mike Viola to the North Attleboro 18-yard line. Ryan Dunn would end the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run to make it a 19-0 game after the failed 2-point conversion.

With time ticking away, Varetimos was able to lead North Attleboro down the field for a touchdown after Wes Nicholls ran it in from four yards out. At that point, it was too little too late — with 17 seconds left on the clock, a King Philip win was all but guaranteed.

The win now eliminates one of the two undefeated teams in Rex-Kelley division play and the last undefeated team in overall play. The win keeps KP’s post-season hopes alive.

“It's a huge, huge win,” Lee said. “Its hard to beat North every year. Everybody else has a sense of accomplishment when they beat North.”

Despite issues with his ankle, Charles Ruffin ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Ryan Dunn ran for 30 yards with a touchdown on five carries. John Dillon went 4-of-7 through the air with 73 yards. Jesse Sullivan and Jason Litchfield both had sacks for losses.

Spyro Varetimos went 10-19 for 114 yards for the Red Rocketeers. Cal Paulhus caught 2 balls for 38 yards while Ryan Geehan caught 1 ball for 22 yards.

With the win the Warriors are now 1-1 against the Rex-Kelley Division, 3-1 against the Hockomock League, and 5-1 overall.

Next week will be a battle of the Warriors as KP visits Foxboro. Game time is set for 7pm on October 21st at Ahern Field in Foxboro.

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