Football Nirvana, perfection

Region - Nobody has done it any better. Football Nirvana. Shrewsbury became the first 13-0 football team in Central Mass. history, with their dramatic 21-17, Division 1A Super Bowl win over Westfield Dec. 1.

The Colonials are also the first undefeated, untied football team in school history. The Super Bowl win is the school's second in the millennium, building on the Col's 2000, 22-21 win over Longmeadow.

While it will always be hard to top the magic and drama of that first Super Bowl and the mystical run that season, including an improbable late scoring drive against a dominant football program to win the championship, this 2007 season needs to be right there.

With the road to a perfect season harder than ever this season with the new postseason format that included a post-Thanksgiving Tuesday Central Mass. playoff game, coach Terry Walles and his Colonials proved they were ready for the challenge, winning three games in just 10 days, starting with their turkey morning victory over Milford.

Down by 11 points late in the Super Bowl, perfection wasn't looking too good. But teams worthy of that title have a way of getting it done. In the D1A Central Mass. playoff game against Fitchburg Nov. 27, Shrewsbury performed in the clutch when Paul Tizzano kicked a 39-yard field goal and the Colonial defense made the big plays in the closing seconds for a 24-21 win.

In Saturday's Bowl, Shrewsbury came back from nine down in the fourth quarter on scores by Alex Alvarez and quarterback Jawad Yatim. Players who had been coming up with big plays all season were doing it again when everything was on the line. Alvarez is one of the team's captains making big contributions in the backfield and secondary, and Yatim finishes the season throwing the ball for 1,500 yards.

Shrewsbury ... football Nirvana, the perfect story.

Aztecs come up

just short

Assabet Valley was riding a 10-game win streak (having lost just once, week one to Hudson) going into their D3A, Nov. 27 playoff game against Valley Tech. The Aztecs had even pounded their playoff opponent 24-8 in a regular season game. Optimism was high.

But as they like to say in the stock market, past performance and results aren't necessarily guarantees of future results.

After falling behind early to Valley Tech in the playoff game, the Aztecs stormed back in the fourth quarter, scoring on James Mahoney's eight-yard touchdown. Assabet, though, was stopped going for the deuce on the conversion and trailed 14-12. After recovering the on-sides kick, Assabet quarterback Alex Moore moved his team into scoring position inside the Valley Tech 20-yard line. But two last plays in the closing seconds came up short.

After the initial pain of the playoff loss wear off s, the Aztecs should look back with great pride at the '07 campaign. Assabet ended 10-2, book-ended the season with losses, and a 10-game win streak in the middle. During the win streak, Assabet outscored their opponents by a margin of nearly 24 points. Coach Rob McCann has taken a problem that had been struggling for consistency and turned things around. Despite the playoff loss, big-time football is back at Assabet.

Send mail and sports ideas to ronwoodcock@charter.net.