Case football's hopes for a win DoorDashed after prank in eventful loss to Sharon
SWANSEA — The Joseph Case football team was hoping to deliver their first win of the season on Friday night.
Instead, it was a delivery of another kind that got the most attention.
Case head coach Anthony Palladino could only shake his head in disbelief.
"It was some kid trying to pull a [social media] prank," said Sharon head coach Dave Morse after the Eagles came away with a 35-6 win over the Cardinals. "I'm sure kids are trying to film that to put on Snapchat or something."
Case was set to punt the ball to visiting Sharon with 5:37 left in the third quarter when an unknown spectator came onto the field near the Eagles sidelines and approached players and the officials with a bag, pretending to be a DoorDash delivery person.
The contest was halted as police and security quickly apprehended the spectator. After a brief struggle, the spectator managed to jump the fence at Joseph D. Santos field and escape into the woods.
It was the second of interruption for Friday Night football games in the area. The Taunton New Bedford game was suspended after three quarters when fans were told they have to leave due to an incident.
As for the game, it was a another lesson for a young Case team, who played well enough in the second half to win. Unfortunately, the first half was riddled with turnovers and missed opportunities for the home team to get any type of momentum on their side.
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"We played hard," Palladino said. "Our efforts are never a question. We're making physical mistakes and a few mental mistakes. We're a young team with only three seniors on the roster. We're learning. We have kids at the varsity level getting reps that never played before. The kids are learning on the job."
Junior quarterback Jack Orton, who threw for the lone score for the Cardinals (0-4), said his team turned things around after a bad half.
"We just turned things around," he said. "We just got more confident. After halftime, we just did our thing. We just have to keep working hard at practice every day."
Sharon (3-1) received a big game from junior running back Gabe Korn, who rushed for 133 yards on 20 carries with three touchdowns. Quarterback Liam Conway added a touchdown and junior Elijah Wisdom returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown.
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"We left some stuff out there and there's a lot of things to correct," Morse said. "But our guys were tough at points and executed pretty well. You have to give credit to Case and their coaches. Their kids battled. They came back at halftime, made adjustments and shut us down for a bit there. We had to make more adjustments to compensate for the good things they were doing.
How it happened
Sharon took advantage of good field position to take the early lead in the first quarter. Three runs by Korn were capped off with a 20-yard touchdown run. Jace McLoughlin added the point after.
The Eagles went up 14-0 after Conway scored on a quarterback keeper from the 1 yard line. Case got on the board shortly after when Orton hooked up with Devin Silva, who raced 73 yards untouched for the touchdown. The kick was blocked but the Cardinals were right back in it.
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Korn finished off a seven-play drive with an 18-yard scamper to give the visitors a 21-6 lead. On Case's next possession, Wisdom jumped in front of a Cardinal wideout and took it back for a pick six to give Sharon a commanding 28-6 lead with 2:11 left before halftime.
The Eagles added a late touchdown from Korn in the fourth quarter.
Top performers for Case
Angelo Ciallia caught four passes in the second half for 37 yards. Silva caught three passes for 105 yards. Orton nearly threw for 150 yards. He had a game against Southeastern earlier where he threw for over 200 yards in an overtime loss.
Box score
Sharon 35, Joseph Case 6
Sharon 7 21 0 7 — 35
Joseph Case 0 6 0 0 — 6
First quarter
Sharon: Gabe Korn 20-yard run (Jace McCarron kick) 7:27
Second quarter
Sharon: Liam Conway 1-yard run (Jace McCarron kick) 9:39
Joseph Case: Devin Silva 73-yard pass from Jack Orton (kick blocked) 8:37
Sharon: Gabe Korn 18-yard touchdown (Jace McCarron kick)
Sharon: Elijah Wisdom 55 interception return (Jace McCarron kick)
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
Sharon: Gabe Korn 30-yard run (Jace McCarron kick)
Case stats
Rushing: Devin Silva 3 carries 15 yards, Nate Wood 6 carries 11 yards, Braden Bibeau 3 carries 11 yards, Jack Orton 2 carries (1).
Passing: Jack Orton 11-for-22 144 yards 1 TD 3 INT.
Receiving: Angelo Ciallia 4 catches 37 yards, Devin Silva 3 catches 105 yards, Will Lebouef 2 catches 14 yards.
Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette sports editor Steven Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@heraldnews.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Chezsports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Case football interrupted by DoorDash prank in loss to Sharon
