Rockets Football Rains Down On Eagles to Clinch State Title Berth
November 22, 2024 ***Updated November 25th***
• Needham will play in the Championship game for the first time since 2011.
The magical run for Needham Football will continue at Gillette Stadium after the Rockets, ranked #4 in the MIAA Division 1 bracket, upset #1 St. John’s Prep, the runner-up a year ago, 22-14 in a rain soaked Semifinal Friday night. It’s just the second time in team history that Needham will play for a state title, with a 21-7 loss to BC High in 2011 being the first.
Needham brought a perfect 10-0 record into Burlington, while the Eagles were 9-1, their only loss so far to Division 2 #1 Catholic Memorial, who were also playing in a State Semi Friday night, to Needham’s long time rival Wellesley, the team the Rockets will host in the 137th edition of the Oldest Public High School Football Rivalry in the Country this Thursday morning at 10am.
On Friday night, both Needham at St. John’s Prep started slowly, with the rain a big factor that stifled the offense. But late in the first quarter, Needham got their first break, when the Eagles attempted to punt, but instead downed the ball at their own 20 yard line. Aidan Williams hoped to take the ball into the end zone, fumbled the ball, but Joe Kajunski was there to recover and take it in for the first score of the game. Needham’s conversion failed, so they led 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the middle of the second quarter, the Eagles took the lead on a 4th and 4 with less than six minutes to go in the half. Jeff Quigley broke a big run to score and with the extra point, Prep went on top 7-6.
The Rockets answered as Williams threw a long bomb to Kajunski that finished at the Eagles 41 yard line. On the very next play, Aidan went the rest of those 41 yards to score his 21st touchdown of the season. Needham also converted the two pointer to make it 14-7 with 4:45 left in the second quarter.
The half wasn’t over yet though, as the Rockets blocked a punt and recovered at the Prep five yard line. After losing a yard, the Rockets scored on a six yard QB scramble by Griffin Carr. After another two pointer, Needham led 22-7 at the half.
With no scoring in third quarter, St. John’s Prep was behind the eight ball and did get in the end zone in the 4th Quarter, but that would be as close as they would come. Ben Schreiber had a big interception to seal the win, as Needham’s perfect season continues at 11-0, as the Eagles fell to 9-2.
Unfortunately due to the torrential rain, our Needham Channel equipment on top of the Burlington Press Box died in the 4th Quarter, so we will only be able show the first three quarters in our broadcast scheduled for Monday, November 25th.
Needham will face #3 Xaverian, he defending champion and the team who knocked out the Rockets in the semis last year, in this year’s Division 1 Super Bowl, at Gillette Stadium on Thursday, December 5th at 5:30pm. TV38 will be broadcasting the game live and The Needham Channel is also planning some sort of live social media coverage, as well as a broadcast on Friday night.
We have a few posts from our Instagram and YouTube Channels from the win, including the celebration, highlights and reaction from Head Coach Doug Kopcso from Monday afternoon as well:
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The Needham Channel is your home for Needham Rockets Varsity Football and you can watch every game streaming on needhamchannel.org and our Roku app. This includes the Oldest Public High School Football Rivalry in the Country on Thanksgiving against Wellesley, which this year is November 28th at Memorial Field. We will also have stories from every game on Needham Local, as well as highlights posted to our Needham Channel YouTube page. You can also follow live game action via our X page at: x.com/tnc_sports.
TNC is also looking for volunteers who want to help out as crew and announcers for all of our game broadcasts this school year. If you love sports or know someone on a team, send an email to TNC Programming Manager Mike Levin at: mlevin@needhamchannel.org.
Be sure to check out the TNC Instagram page, for all of our content from the 2024 Needham Fall Sports Season at: instagram.com/theneedhamchannel.
