FOXBORO — The standard at King Phillip isn’t just to have a winning season or beat your rival on Thanksgiving.
It’s to play football at Gillette Stadium in December.
For the last five years, the Warriors have made themselves right at home, and they looked as comfortable as ever, claiming the Division III state title over defending champ North Attleborough, 21-10, on Friday night.
“I wanted it so bad for them,” coach Brian Lee said. “It’s so cliche. The kids work so hard. I am so blessed and lucky that I found KP and these kids … I’m so fortunate. They’re unbelievable kids”
It wasn’t the first time King Phillip faced off against fellow Hockomock member North Attleborough, as it defeated Big Red 21-7 back on Sept. 12.
Lee knew it was going to be an even tougher battle to take them down the second time.
“I asked them tonight, what can you give extra?” Lee said. “Because it’s going to take extra. It can’t be what you gave the first time. It’s going to be a harder game than the first time. So you have to give extra.”
King Phillip gave every bit it had, especially in the second half to seal its fourth state title in program history. The Warriors leaned on what got them there with senior running back duo Keigan Canto-Osorio and Tallan King, who combined to rush for 252 yards on 45 attempts.
But as the first quarter began, it looked like Big Red may have had King Phillip’s number the second time around, despite losing a key player early on.
With Frankie Strachan — Big Red’s leading rusher — going down early in the first with an ankle injury, the offensive load fell directly on Dylan Brousseau’s shoulders, and he didn’t flinch. Late in the first, the senior signal caller connected with Nathaniel Robin on a 56-yard deep ball to set North Attleborough up deep in Warrior territory.
Robin capped off his drive with a one-yard touchdown run to put Big Red up 7-0.
“(Strachan) has been the heart and soul of our team all season, right?” North Attleborough coach Michael Strachan said. “He’s kind of the anchor when he’s out there, right? He makes everything calm down.”
Following an earlier fumble on its lone drive of the opening frame, King Phillip’s offense settled into a groove in the second. The Warriors’ backfield tandem of Canto-Osorio and King chewed off some big runs, and Zach Gebhard chipped in through the air with a 17-yard completion to move KP into the redzone.
North Attleborough’s defense tried its best to slow up the Warriors, but on 4th and 1, Gebhard slammed into the line and across the goal line to tie the game at seven.
Brousseau continued to find success airing out the ball, even with pressure in his lap. On Big Red’s next drive, Brousseau once again completed a 56-yard pass, this time to Ryan Gustafson. The quarterback finished the first half 3-for-7 for 131 yards. This time, the Warriors defense was able to stand tall in their own end, holding North Attleborough to a 25-yard field goal off the foot of Nick Torres.
King Phillip’s offense kept rolling deep into the second quarter as Gebhard completed two passes for 27 yards to move the Warriors deep into enemy territory. Later that drive, Gebhard delivered one of his best plays of the season, rolling out and rushing towards the pylon, colliding with a defender before falling out of bounds.
Gebhard wasn’t worried about taking the hit, the only thing going through his mind was picking up the first down.
“I was just trying to get the first,” Gebhard said. “Everybody’s yelling at me to go out. But honestly, I didn’t really know where the first down marker was.”
Senior running back Ryan Greenwood finished off the drive with a one-yard score.
Coming out of halftime, Big Red wasn’t connecting on the same big plays through the air as they were in the first, and without Strachan, the Warriors defense feasted, intercepting Brousseau twice. They kept North Attleborough off the board in the final 24 minutes, opening the door for the one-two punch of Canto-Osorio and King to take over.
Just before the end of the third quarter, Canto-Osorio bounced off tacklers and into the end zone for a seven-yard score, avenging a scoreless trip to Gillette in 2024.
“I mean, last year I didn’t get in the end zone, so I wasn’t sad about that, but this year I made sure I got in there,” Canto-Osorio said.
King helped slam the door shut in the fourth, rushing for a game-high 149 yards on 23 carries.
“He is so awesome,” Lee said. “He’s so athletic, so strong in the weight room. He’s a killer. And he just is, like, and he’s got this personality that just makes you just love him. King is such a dude. He worked so hard. And I just, I can’t say enough great things about him.”
The Warriors now return the short five miles back to Wrentham with another state title, albeit in a new division. If the last five years have been any indication, it won’t be long before the Warriors start prepping for a sixth trip back to Gillette.
