Man About Canton: 88 Years of Football Action

Did you know …

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

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

The Canton-Stoughton rivalry is 88 years of football action since the two teams started playing each other in 1926; and this year, the rivalry stands in Stoughton’s favor with 44 wins, 40 losses, and four ties.

Stoughton High has moved ahead by beating Canton 16 of the last 19 games. Last year, Stoughton (10-2) held on to beat Canton (3-8) 28-20 after trailing at halftime 7-0. The 20 points scored by Canton last year was the most points scored by a losing CHS team in the 88-year rivalry. In the year before, CHS (3-6) upset Stoughton (9-2) 28-26 in overtime, and the 26 points scored by Stoughton was the most points scored in a losing Thanksgiving Day game.

Between 2005 and 2011, Stoughton outscored Canton 229-35, or an average score of 33-5.

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.

Owen Hughes led CHS to a 27-12 win in 2003, rushing for a record 251 yards on 34 of Canton’s 58 total plays.

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.

Stoughton’s Joe Jeudy, a junior, scored 26 points against Canton in 2006 as SHS beat CHS 34-0. He then went on to set a CHS/SHS game-scoring record of 30 points as Stoughton clobbered Canton 47-14 in 2007. The score at halftime was 40-6, which is the biggest margin at halftime in the Canton/Stoughton rivalry.

Between 1949 and 1951, CHS won 25 games and lost only twice; both losses were 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 School won eight Hockomock League football titles; that is eight titles in 14 years, but since 1990, the CHS football team has not had a winning season in the Hockomock League.

This year, MAC will revisit three of Canton’s lesser known upsets of Stoughton:

1966 (26-16): Canton made its way to Stoughton’s field as the underdogs. Canton had not beaten Stoughton in the past four years, but on this day, the Bulldogs came up with some outstanding individual performances to finish on top. Junior fullback Dick Decembrele had one of his greatest games as he smashed away at Stoughton’s line for well over 100 yards. Dick was also great from his defensive end position, and he earned himself the first Outstanding Player of the Game Award presented annually by the Canton Town Club. Co-captain Steve Matthews also probably played his greatest game that day at quarterback. Some great running was also displayed by Bulldog backs Joe Trementozzi and Tom Gavigan. Outstanding in the line for Canton were co-captain Dave Walsh, Bruce Hutchinson, Dave Wall, Tom Horgan, Kevin Haines, and Joe Armando.

1970 (28-22): The Canton Bulldogs played an outstanding game and upset Stoughton to chalk up another Turkey Day victory. Bill Becker had one of the greatest games ever produced by a Canton player on Thanksgiving Day. Playing at cornerback on defense, Becker was the leading tackler for the Bulldogs. And at his halfback position, he continually made great runs to keep Canton in the lead. His best was a 55-yard touchdown run on a fake punt. David Boyle had a great game at quarterback. Gerry Lane recovered a fumble in the end zone for Canton’s first TD. Also outstanding for Canton was fullback Bob Goodrich. Other players giving their best efforts for the Bulldogs were co-captain Paul Berteletti, Joe Buckley, Donald Titus, Dave Jenkins, Tim McDermott, and Graham Donlon. Ned White was outstanding from his defensive end position and was given the Outstanding Lineman Award.

1991 (8-7): Canton was down 7-0, and there was 1:57 left in the game when Stoughton fumbled the ball and Canton’s Jason Fernald recovered on the Stoughton 35-yard line. Canton then pulled off a seldom seen flea-flicker play with quarterback Brian Lane handing the ball to halfback Mike O’Donnell, who handed the ball to end Marvin Moore, who gave it back to Lane, who fired it to end Greg Zollo, who was tackled at Stoughton’s two-yard line. After three tries and little gain, on fourth down, Lane, on a quarterback sneak, took it over for the score. With no time left, Canton went for the win, and Lane found Jim Delello for the all-important two-point conversion and an 8-7 Canton win.

This year’s Thanksgiving Day game will again have Canton High (6-4) an underdog to a powerful Stoughton High (8-2). Earlier in the season, Stoughton barely beat Canton 28-25 on the last play of the game. MAC predicts an upset 27-21 win by Canton over Stoughton, but one never knows what might happen when these two rivals meet on the football field for the 89^th time.

This is all for now folks; see you next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=27678

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Nov 26 2014. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.