FHS Sports: Monumental Fall Seasons

Elizabeth Clark

This fall sports season for Franklin High School was monumental. Almost every team placed high in the Kelley-Rex division of the Hockomock League, and many advanced far in the sectional (and even state) tournament, some even winning the whole thing! We had upsets against high seeds, along with devastating overtime losses. Overall, each team left everything they had on their field or court, and FHS will go into the winter as a force to be reckoned with.

Field hockey: Girls field hockey went into the tournament as a #13 seed, but after beating Durfee (#20) 9-2, they were a force to be reckoned with. In the end, they lost in the sectional semifinals in a 4-3 overtime game to #1 Walpole, after beating the 4 and 5 seeds. They were second in the Kelly-Rex to King Philip. Senior captain Emily Valentino states “I think that our team started to perform our best towards the end of the season which propelled us far into tournament. This group of girls clicked so well together on and off the field, making our motivation to go far in tournament even greater. We left it all on the field every game and I couldn’t be prouder of our team!

Volleyball: Girls volleyball had a very impressive season this year, winning the hockomock and sectionals, while losing to Barnstable in the state semi-finals. To get there, they had to beat Concord Carlisle, Hopkinton, and Shrewsbury in the tournament. Senior Maggie Doyle states “winning sectionals was incredible, we knew going into the season that our team would go far in the tournament, but after winning sectionals for the first time in program history, we realized how special our season really was and that brought us so much closer as a team. She “can honestly say that I won’t ever forget the feeling of making history or being on such a fun and loving team. When asked if they had any goals going into the season, she mentioned “our team as a whole is kind of weirdly superstitious… we shared goals for the team like bonding with the upperclassmen and playing our best for every point. This allowed us to take a step back from the competitiveness of stats and scores and instead embrace being a team”.

 

Football: Tied for 3rd in Hock (4-2), qualified for tournament and beat Brockton, but fell in an overtime game to #1 Xaverian. Junior Owen Palmieri states “we’ve been putting in work since the summer began and getting better every day so as a team our expectation was to try and go as far as we could in the playoffs and show how Franklin is a good team.” Winning our first game against Brockton, “was Franklin’s first playoff win in almost 40 years and I think it just proved a lot of people wrong who have been doubting us for a long time.” He alsomentioned their “final goal is to beat King Phillip on Thanksgiving and leave the seniors with a win against our rivals.

 

Cheer: Won their first Hockomock meet and ended as Division 1 State Champions! Senior Mia Lizotte states “this was my first year joining the cheer team, and although the season seemed so short, it had the greatest impact on me. The bond this team shared was amazing, and there’s no one else I’d want to step on the mat with every day. We knew from the start we had a reputation to fulfill being Winter state championships, so we worked 10x harder. Fall is a much tougher division [than the winter]our goal was to beat Bridgewater Raynham, as they had not been defeated in 3 years. We realized shortly after we had been given our routine that we had a real chance at being on top. With extra practice, motivation, and leadership we pushed forward and won a Division 1 State Championship!” Finally, reflecting on the amazing season, she said “none of us could have done it without the support of our amazing coach, Doni Gill, and others that came in and helped along the way. It was an amazing experience and one I’ll always remember for the rest of my life

Boys Soccer: (10-6-2) Finished third in the Kelley-Rex but lost in the 1st round of tournament in a close game to BC High. Junior Donny Tappin states “We worked hard to improve every day and I think it showed in the second half of the season. It stinks to go out in the first round, but we gave it our best shot”.

Girls Soccer:  Got knocked off in tournament to #6 Hingham, and finished second in the Kelley-Rex. Junior Anna Balkus states “Our team worked really well together and throughout the season we built up a strong defense in the back, but one of our main goals was scoring and finishing up top on offense.” In regards to their playoff loss to Hingham, she states they “improved a lot from last year by only letting in one goal”.

Golf: Boys golf had a standout season, finishing in 3rd place in Hockomock Tournament, and tying for 1st in the Kelley-Rex. 

Senior captain Matt D’Errico stated “we pulled together as a team and grinded out a big win over Oliver Ames to put ourselves in that position as co-champions in the Kelley-Rex. He also noted “there were a lot of really good teams in the league this year, so I would tell my team every shot mattered. That paid off for us considering we won a lot of very close matches this year”

 

 

Unified Basketball: Had a very fun and competitive season, getting the opportunity to play against a variety of towns and people (even some of the FHS admin) Sophomore Meaghan Harmon states “My team is really really fun, and really really nice. We had some really fun times together!”

 

 

 

Boys Cross Country: They won the Hockomock race for the first time since 1974! Junior Tyler Brogan stated, “this team had the greatest group of guys and we all worked so hard to reach our goal of reclaiming the hock title for the first time in 44 years and take down Mansfield who hadn’t lost Hocks in 16 years.”

Girls Cross Country: Finished third in the Hockomock Tournament. Senior captain Julia Digiacomo stated “the three captains (me, Kat Walbert and Brandi Osborne) met with our coach at the beginning of the year and made different goals, including to be Kelly-Rex and Hock champions. We knew it would be difficult because Mansfield, Foxboro, and KP all have really strong and competitive teams, but we were up for the challenge. Going into Hocks, we were seeded 8th, so we knew we really had to run fast times. Before we ran, the top 10 girls had a huddle and we said to them to believe in themselves and their ability because we deserve it as much as everyone else. We told them we want it badly and catch any Mansfield and KP girls. We ended up finishing in 3rd.” Looking back, she says “although it may not be exactly what we wanted, all the girls were still happy with our races” and “we are excited to see what the team will do next year, especially because our freshman this year were so talented.”