MAC: Canton-Stoughton Rivalry – 85 Years

DID YOU KNOW …

Canton will face Stoughton in the classic Thanksgiving Day matchup tomorrow at 10 a.m. at Memorial Field in Canton.

Each year, MAC publishes some facts, records, and trivia from the Canton-Stoughton rivalry that started in 1926. So here we go for this year:

The Canton-Stoughton rivalry is 85 years of football action since the two teams started playing each other in 1926, and this year, the rivalry now stands in Stoughton’s favor with 42 wins, 39 losses, and four ties … and that’s official. Stoughton High has moved ahead by beating Canton 14 of the last 16 years.

Last year, Stoughton again beat Canton by another lopsided score of 26-6.

Stoughton’s last ten wins over Canton have been by scores of 35-0, 39-0, 33-0, 27-0, 42-6, 34-0, 47-14, 28-2, 25-0, and 26-6 … ouch!!

Canton last beat Stoughton in 2004 (7-6) and in 2003 (27-12) with Owen Hughes setting a CHS record by rushing for 251 yards on 34 of Canton’s 58 total plays. The old record was 203 yards held by Mike Toomey (1984).

Stoughton running back Aaron Bascon holds the rushing record of 305 yards on 32 carries, set in 1993. In that game, won by Stoughton 30-15, Stoughton scored all 30 points in the third quarter, the most points ever scored in one quarter in a CHS/SHS Thanksgiving Day game. The 15 points scored by CHS was the most points scored by Canton in a losing game.

Since the Canton and Stoughton football teams started playing against each other in 1926, 42 out of the 85 games have ended in shutouts. In fact, out of the first 17 games played between Canton and Stoughton (1926-1942), 15 ended in shutouts.

The longest undefeated streak in the series was 10 straight years (1983-1992) by Canton. In six straight years (1984-1989), Stoughton did not score a point against Canton.

Between 1965 and 1992, Canton won 21 games while losing only four and tying three.

Between 1950 and 1965, Stoughton lost only three games to Canton, and between 1995 and 2010, Stoughton has won 14 of the 16 games played.

Stoughton’s Joe Jeudy scored 26 points against Canton in 2006 and set a SHS/CHS game scoring record of 30 points in 2007; that is 56 points in two years. Canton has scored only 62 points in the last 12 years.

Between 1949 and 1951, CHS won 25 games and lost only twice, and both were Thanksgiving Day losses to Stoughton in 1950 and 1951. In 1950, Stoughton snapped the Bulldogs’ 17-game winning streak with a 7-6 win.

Between 1979 and 1981, CHS went undefeated for 29 straight games, one of the longest streaks in Massachusetts high school football history.

Between 1977 and 1990, Canton High won eight Hockomock League football titles. Since 1990, the CHS football team has not had a winning record in the Hockomock League; that’s over 20 years.

Charlie Stevenson quarterbacked Canton High School to three straight wins (1929-1931).

The undefeated 1935 team scored 176 points while giving up only six points.

The 1981 Canton High football team may have been the best CHS team ever. The team finished the season undefeated (11-0), scoring 357 points while giving up only 63.

The 1986 CHS team, which beat Stoughton 48-0, allowed only 35 points in ten games, the lowest in the state.

This year, MAC will take you through the CHS/SHS games for the years 1930, 1944, and 1966:

The 1930 game saw Canton beat Stoughton 20-0 with junior quarterback Charlie Stevenson and fullback “Bull” Thomas scoring touchdowns. The win capped off Canton’s first undefeated season (9-0) as the Bulldogs outscored their opponents 241-13. Defensive standouts for Canton included Bob Cohen, Link Chandler, Bob Fish, Bob Gibson, and Andy Wile.

In the 1944 game, won by Canton 30-0, Tom Withee rushed for two touchdowns, including a 75-yard run on the very first play of the game. Tony Spada, Art Berteletti, and Johnny Sykes added a touchdown each. Gino Berardi and Ralph Hiltz played outstanding defensive games, as Canton did not give up a first down to Stoughton in the entire game.

Forty-five years ago in 1966, Canton made its way to Stoughton as the underdog, but the Bulldogs were able to come up with some outstanding individual performances to beat Stoughton 26-16. Fullback Dick Decembrele rushed for over 100 yards while co-captain Steve Matthews played his greatest game that day at quarterback. Great running was also displayed by Joe Trementozzi and Tom Gavigan. Outstanding in the line for Canton were co-captain Dave Walsh, Bruce Hutchinson, Dave Wall, Tom Horgan, Larry Poirier, Kevin Haines, and Joe Armando.

This year’s Thanksgiving Day game will have Stoughton again favored over Canton. MAC was originally going to predict a 21-7 Stoughton win, but has reconsidered after Canton’s strong play in the second half of the season and now predicts a Canton win of 21-13. But one never knows what might happen when these two old rivals meet on the football field for the 86^th time.

The Canton-Stoughton game is the only game played with 12-minute quarters; all other games use 10-minute quarters.

This is all for now folks. See you next week.

~Happy Thanksgiving~

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Posted by Joe DeFelice on Nov 23 2011. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.