Needham Football Wallops Central Catholic, Headed Back to Final 4

November 15, 2024

• The Rockets took control late in the 3rd quarter and rolled from there.

On a November night atop the hill at Memorial Field, Needham Football, ranked #4 in the MIAA Division 1 bracket, beat #5 Central Catholic 31-7 to book a return trip to the State Final 4. The Rockets advanced to the semis last year, falling three points shy of a title game appearance.

Needham put their perfect 9-0 record on the line in this State Quarterfinal game and despite a defensive struggle in the first quarter and a TD by the Raiders early in the second quarter. Midway through the second, Aidan Williams broke away with a 52 yard run that set the Rockets up inside the Central Catholic red zone. A few plays later, Williams scored on a six yard touchdown.

With score tied 7-7 late in the half, the Rockets sent out Alex Rufo, who hit a 39 yard field goal with seven seconds remaining in the half. The Raiders would take a knee after the kickoff, so at halftime, Needham led 10-7.

Late in the third quarter, the Rockets came up with several crazy plays that kept their drive alive. First, on a third and very long, QB Griffin Carr completed a pass to Joe Kajunski that led to a pickup of 57 yards. Then on a field goal attempt, a high snap forced holder Brandt Bickford to run, which he did for a first down. A few plays later, Williams scored again, untouched, from two yards out.

Then in the fourth quarter, the Rockets put the game out of reach with two scores in less than a minute. The first was a 21 yard TD run by Williams, his third of the game and 20th of the season (18 rushing), then on an interception return by Ben Schreiber that sealed the victory.

Williams finished with 20 carries for 130 yards and his four touchdowns. Carr was 7-of-11 for 114 yards, 6-of-106 of which was to Kajunski. The Rockets had 155 total rushing yards and with the 114 passing yards, finished with 269 total offensive yards.

With the win, Needham (10-0)  advances to their second straight State Semifinal, where they will meet #1 St. John’s Prep (9-1). The Rockets fell short in last year’s semifinal, when they lost to eventual champion Xaverian 20-17.

You can check out some of the video highlights from our live broadcast, via our Instagram feed:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Needham Channel (@theneedhamchannel)

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.