SHREWSBURY – Friday night football is back.
Shrewsbury High School varsity football beat Saint John’s 18-15 for the first time in six games on the Colonials home turf Sept. 16.
“It’s surreal. This is definitely going to be something I am going to remember forever. I give it to our team, we gave it our all and we worked hard all week. I am just so proud of my guys and my quarterback TJ Welch,” said Shrewsbury captain and tight end Cooper Ackerman on Twitter. “This is an unbelievable moment for us. I’m at a loss for words.”
Welch, who is also a captain, scored the winning touchdown and said in a tweet that he couldn’t have done it without his “brothers.”
“They’re my family, if I didn’t have them I couldn’t have done it,” he said.
Colonials Head Coach John Aloisi called it a great night for both Shrewsbury High School and the town.
“It was a great night for our school and town,” he said. “We had a huge crowd that gave us tremendous support and I’m obviously happy that we were able to earn the victory.”
Aloisi said the Colonials were looking forward to challenging games this season, noting that playing St. John’s was challenging as they are a “talented team.”
He offered key players to watch out for this season including Ackerman; Welch; the other three captains John O’Leary, Thomas Caputo and Owen Keeley; and Karol Harasim, Brad Blattner, Joe McKenzie, Ollie Canavan and Jason Nickerson.
Saint John’s Head Coach John Andreoli said his team was “disappointed” with the loss, but they will use it as a lesson to improve for the rest of the season.
“We have a lot of work to do this week and we are ready to get after it [their next game],” he said.
The next game for the Colonials will be versus Acton-Boxborough Regional High School on Sept 23. The next game for the Pioneers will be against Central Catholic High School on Sept. 24.
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