Football loss to Shrewsbury motivates defense to improve

Shrewsbury+defeated+Algonquin+40-13+on+Friday%2C+October+12.

Shrewsbury defeated Algonquin 40-13 on Friday, October 12.

Dominic Giannetto and Steven Moffa

Algonquin fell 40-13 to Shrewsbury, who were led by seniors quarterback Drew Campanale and running back Jonathan White as the Colonials delivered for a packed crowd on Friday, October 12.

Shrewsbury (5-1), coming off their first loss of the season at Westborough, hosted the 1-5 Tomahawks for the first game on the newly-renovated David J. Adams Field. Shrewsbury’s Campanale put up efficient numbers, completing nine out of ten throws for 167 yards with two passing touchdowns and one rushing.

After fumbling on the first drive, Algonquin put together a short drive ending with a one yard touchdown by senior Jack Branson.

“It’s all momentum,” Branson said. “We go up 6-0, and then we let them get their drive going.”  

Soon after Campanale’s well-thrown 15 yarder to sophomore Kaelan Green into the far corner of the endzone put the Colonials up 7-6.

Three more unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter turned what could’ve been a competitive game into a one-sided affair, with the Colonials entering halftime up 27-6.

“I thought we came out firing, but…we gotta work on fundamentals,”  senior captain Chris Santana said. “This week we’re gonna take defense very seriously.”

Two more touchdowns, one for White and one for Shrewsbury junior Tucker Montague put the game out of reach for the Tomahawks, but the Algonquin offense stayed focused and capped their final drive with a 37-yard touchdown from senior quarterback Brendan Hermanspan to senior receiver Sam Crain.

“This week we prepared a lot on offense,” Hermanspan said. “We gotta work on a lot of things, the little details. The plays are there; we just gotta execute.”

Following the game, defense appeared to be one of those details.

“You look at the defense, we were lined up correctly but just didn’t execute,” head coach Taylor Allen said. “We couldn’t do our jobs.”