Wahconah Downs Taconic in State Playoffs
DALTON, Mass. -- Anthony Talora ran for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Gio Venable threw for 246 yards and three scores Friday as Wahconah beat Taconic, 44-12, in the first round of the Division 7 State Tournament.
Wahconah scored on its first four possessions and led, 44-0, midway through the third quarter in picking up its second win of the season against the Thunder.
This win sends fifth-seeded Wahconah (8-1) to the state quarter-finals, where it will travel to No. 4 Northbridge, a 22-14 winner over Mashpee on Friday night.
After a 23-yard return by Venable on the opening kickoff Friday, Wahconah went 54 yards in six plays, the last 14 on a run by Jerry Beaubrun (73 yards).
Taconic the recovered the ensuing kickoff at its 1-yard line, but the Thunder got out from the shadow of its end zone before being forced to punt from its 45.
Benjamin Tobler-Campoli's boot flipped the field and put Wahconah at its 18.
But a 16-yard run by Beaubrun on second-and-3 got Wahconah going on an 82-yard scoring drive that ended when Talora scored from the 6 with 2 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first quarter.
"That was the No. 1 key to victory," Wahconah coach Gary Campbell Jr. said of his team's fast start. "We had to come out and take it to them early.
"Any [Taconic] kid worth their salt wanted to play us again -- especially if you maybe didn't play as well [in Wahconah's 44-18 win the first meeting]. Maybe you didn't do everything you wanted to do the first game, and you want to prove yourself. So I felt that ... if we could come out in the first quarter and do very well, hopefully, it just kind of quells it, ends that emotion.
"And now we're playing football."
Tobler-Campoli backed up Wahconah again on its next possession, kicking the ball to the 4 in the final minute of the first quarter.
Venable then led his team on a 96-yard march that saw Trevion Hawkins catch a 35-yard pass and Beabrun break off a 35-yard run before Talora scored from the 15 to make it 22-0.
Taconic fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, and Wahconah took advantage, goign 39 yards in four plays. Venable threw to Anthony Englyshe for a 25-yard touchdown to make it 28-0 with 9:06 left in the half.
After stopping Taconic on a fourth down near midfield, Wahconah went 45 yards to get to the 2, but on fourth-and-goal, the Thunder's defense completed the goalline stand.
Its offense managed a couple of first downs but had to punt the ball away with just more than a minute left in the half. Venable's 24-yard return got Wahconah to the plus-45, and his 30-yard completion to Hawkins got the hosts into the red zone.
But Taconic's defense made its second big stop of the quarter when Carter Choquette picked off a pass in the end zone and returned it to the 10 with 53 seconds on the clock.
The teams traded turnovers to start the second half -- Taconic an interception and a failed fourth down and Wahconah a fumble -- before Wahconah took over at the plus-48 with 9:04 on the clock.
Venable threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Micah Roberts on first down and threw a 2-point conversion to Rick Rando to make it 36-0.
The next time Wahconah got the ball, Venable completed back-to-back passes of 11 and 19 yards, the second to Hawkins to make it 42-0 and send the game to running time with 4:35 left in the third.
Hawkins became the fifth different Wahconah player to find the end zone, continuing a theme for the Suburban South Champions.
"If we can continue to be balanced, we're a good football team," Campbell said. "We ran the ball really well right off the bat. And, all of a sudden, they start dropping the safety here and there, and then we hit some big passes. If we can do that and continue to do that moving forward, we're OK."
Taconic's Ka'Zahni Daniels, who ran for a game-high 140 yards, finished his night with a 65-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter.
Taconic then scored again the next time it touched the ball when Noah Martin ran it in from the 7.
Taconic next week will finish its season with a consolation round game.
Wahconah next week will look to get back to the state semi-finals for the first time since 2021, when it went all the way to Gillette Stadium after beating Northbridge in the Final Four.
"I think it's our sixth time playing them," Campbell said. "I mean, it's a familiar school for sure, and I know they're just an excellentprogram. So we're excited to play the next round. We'll see as we go, but certainly we're very familiar, and I know they're a great team.
"So we've got a battle in front of us."