Needham Football Blasts Wachusett In Playoff Opener

November 8, 2024

• The Rockets scored early and often against the Mountaineers.

The Needham Football team finished the 2024 regular season a perfect 8-0, earning them the #4 seed in the MIAA Division 1 bracket and a home game Friday night, against #13 Wachusett. And right from the start, the Rockets showed their mettle, scoring an incredible 28 points in the first quarter along en route to a 49-13 thrashing of the Mountaineers.

On Wachusett’s first offensive play of the game, Aidan Williams intercepted a pass and brought it back about 25 yards for a touchdown. Less than a minute and a half later, Williams took Needham’s first offensive possession 45 yards to the hole for his 14th TD of the season, 12 of those rushing.

About four minutes later, Williams scored from 29 yards out, then added a 2 yarder with 59 seconds left in the 1st Quarter, giving Needham a 28-0 lead heading to the 2nd. Less than a minute into the 2nd Quarter, Aidan scored from 19 yards out, giving him his 15th rushing touchdown of the year, 17th overall.

The Rockets added touchdowns from Joe Kajunski, from seven yards out and Stephen Rocamboli from four yards out, to take a 49-0 lead to halftime. Needham had 302 offensive yards in the first half, all of them on the ground. Williams rushed 15 times for 201 yards.

Interestingly enough, Wachusett would score a pair of TDs in the 4th Quarter, one with time expiring on the running clock. There was no extra point or conversion attempted, but Needham still yielded the most points from an opponent this year, with 13.

The Rockets will now host #5 Central Catholic in the D1 Quarterfinals on Friday, November 15th at Memorial Field with a trip to the State Semis on the line.

For highlights from Needham’s win over Wachusett, click the video box below, courtesy of our Instagram page:

 

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The Needham Channel is your home for Needham Rockets Varsity Football and you can watch every game, home and away on The Needham Channel’s HD, Community and Education Channels, as well as 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.