HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Unsung hero helps Rockland defeat Abington in Division 6 Super Bowl
FOXBORO – The solution to many of the Rockland High football team’s problems is senior captain PJ Celestino.
Need a long snapper? Celestino is your man.
How about a return man? Yup, Celestino is that 'Dog.
What about a Super Bowl hero? Celestino showed he’s that and more in Friday’s 23-13 win over Abington in the Division 6 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium.
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“I always try to look at it as I’m captain and I need to do what they need me to do,” said Celestino. "If they need me to play quarterback, I’ll play quarterback. They need me to run the ball, I’ll run the ball. Return, anything they need me to do. I love these guys, I’d do anything for them.”
Celestino played a role in all three of the Bulldogs touchdowns. He threw an 8-yard TD pass to Lucas Leander on Rockland’s opening drive and jumped over the pile on a QB sneak to put the Bulldogs up 13-0 early.
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But it was third TD of the day that stole the show, and maybe even the state title.
The Green Wave had briefly seized momentum. After seeing its first three drives end with a fumble and two turnovers on downs, Abington moved the chains for the first time with a 27-yard pass from Eddie Reilly to Tommy Fanara with 3:36 left in the first half. Three plays later, junior Isaiah Ricketson scored on a 7-yard TD run. Fanara’s kick cut the deficit to 13-7 with 2:02 left in the first half.
Enter Celestino.
The ensuing kickoff initially looked to be disastrous. It rolled past Celestino and stopped short of the end zone at the Rockland 1. With his back to every other player on the field, Celestino picked up the ball and tried to avert disaster. He broke free and then kept going and going and going until he crossed the goal line for a 99-yard TD return.
“I thought there was going to be someone on my back,” said Celestino. “I thought I was going to be down at the 1, but it was crazy.
“After that first kid, all I saw was open space. I saw I had a couple of my blockers, so they did a great job leading the way.”
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Rockland junior Jacob Coulstring intercepted a pass on Abington’s ensuing drive with 1:05 left in the first. A 35-yard run by Lucas Leander allowed Rockland to keep marching toward the end zone. A 13-yard pass from Celestino to Coulstring paved the way for Jerry Esposito to end the half with a 27-yard goal that put the Bulldogs up 23-7.
Rockland’s defense was the story of the second half. Outside of allowing a 3-yard TD run by Mason Kilmain that cut the lead to 23-13 with 2:23 left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs were stout defensively as the offense struggled. Rockland only picked up one first down on offense, a 39-yard fourth-down pass from Celestino to a diving Logan Rogers. But the defense recovered two fumbles (Gabe Pinheiro and Lucas Leander), intercepted one pass (Coulstring) and forced two turnovers on downs.
“No it isn’t (how we wanted the season to end), but we got ourselves to the Super Bowl game,” said Abington coach Jim Kelliher. “We didn’t play as well as we’d all like to play, but they gave it every effort they could.
“They battled and you couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”
Celestino began the season sharing snaps at quarterback with junior Michael Moriarty, but the senior continued to solidify his claim to QB1 throughout the season.
“He’s a big-time player, he’s a captain for a reason,” Rockland coach Nick Liquori said of Celestino. “I’ve had all the confidence in the world in him. Challenged him a little bit on the quarterback level with Michael sharing reps early on and he took it by the horns and took it over himself, which is awesome.”
Celestino finished 5-of-9 passing for 80 yards with the TD. He also ran for 70 yards. He had a 41-yard run on Rockland’s opening possession.
Return to glory
Friday was Rockland’s first trip to the state final since winning a title in 2000. Liquori was a sophomore on the 1992 Super Bowl team.
“It’s going to be an emotional ride home,” said Liquori. "I knew it was going to be an emotional day, regardless.”
“It means the world,” said Rockland junior Leary Costa. “Ever since summer workouts, we’ve been saying that we were going to come back and hopefully we’re back next year. Hopefully we’re back next year, that’s the goal."
“There’s only two teams that are going to get here, you were one of them,” Kelliher said of his postgame message to his team. “It didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to be, but sometimes that’s the way it’s going to go. That’s how life sometimes is going to go.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Rockland High football defeats Abington in Division 6 Super Bowl
