Tide football falls to host Brockton in second half comeback effort, but remains in the playoff picture

Everett, now the 16^th seed in the Division 1 power rankings, looks to rebound against Classical tonight at Lynn’s Manning Field

By Joe McConnell

It was a tale of two halves last Saturday afternoon in Brockton. The visiting Everett High School football team (2-4) led at halftime, 21-14. But the host Boxers (2-4) rallied to outscore the Tide, 21-0 to win the game, 35-21. With two regular season games left on the schedule for both teams before the playoffs begin on Nov. 8, they both still currently remain in the postseason. Brockton is the 15^th seed in the Division 1 power rankings, as of Oct. 22, while the Everett boys are right behind them as the 16^th seed.

The Tide actually led, 21-7 late in the first half, before Brockton running back Luke Turco changed the complexion of the game with a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown to trim the deficit to just seven at halftime. Turco, a senior running back, also scored two more touchdowns in the game that catapulted his teammates to their first home win of the year.

Second-year coach Justin Flores says it’s more of what his team didn’t do in the second half than what Brockton did do in its comeback win. “(Brockton) didn’t do anything differently,” Flores said. “We made critical mistakes and turnovers that cost us the game in the second half. The offense just didn’t execute well enough. We just have to continue to work to fix our mistakes.

“We need to continue to work on situational football like in the redzone, on third down and special teams,” added Flores. “I was pleased with the defense. The score shows 35 points, but we let up a punt return for a touchdown, and their last touchdown was after an interception that created a short field. Overall, we played as well as we had all year.”

Yariel Ortiz had another huge game for the Tide with nine catches for 131 yards and one touchdown. Manny Santiago and Joao Barreiros accounted for the other two Everett touchdowns. Luca Da Silva successfully kicked all three extra points.

But they have since turned the page, because there’s still a matter of staying in the playoffs with two games left on the regular season schedule. The Tide will be taking on host Lynn Classical tonight (Oct. 25) at Lynn’s Manning Field, starting at 7:30 p.m. They will then return home to face visiting Revere next Friday night (Nov. 1) at Everett Memorial Stadium, beginning at 6 p.m.

“We still need to hit the three-win bar to make sure we have a chance to be in the playoffs, but by the same token we need to take it one day at a time,” said Flores.

On tonight’s game in Lynn, Flores added, “Classical is a well-coached team that has utilized a varied offense and defense all year, because of injuries.”

But again, right now, the Tide occupies the 16^th and final spot in the Division 1 playoff picture. With wins over Lynn Classical and Revere, they could move up in the rankings, which would give them a chance to avoid the top divisional teams in the first round.

The Top 16 Division 1 clubs are as of Oct. 22: Boston College High (5-0), St. John’s Prep (6-0), Xaverian Brothers (3-3), Springfield Central (5-1), Needham (6-0), Franklin (5-1), Methuen (5-1), Central Catholic (3-3), Leominster (5-1), Natick (5-1), Weymouth (6-0), Andover (5-1), Westford Academy (4-2), Attleboro (3-3), Brockton (2-4) and Everett (2-4).