CUMBERLAND — For much of the first half, when Greely had the football, sophomore Joey Cassella paced the Rangers sideline waiting for his chance.

“I was telling people, ‘Just wait until I get in there, because I’m going to show them what I’ve got,’ ” he said.

True to his word, Cassella ran wild after the break, scoring four touchdowns to lead the Rangers to a 40-20 come-from-behind Class B South victory over Morse High of Bath on Friday night at Hutchins Field.

Greely improved to 3-2 to remain in playoff contention. Morse fell to 2-3.

“My spot was on the line,” said Cassella, coming off a one-game suspension after getting ejected late in a 26-0 victory over Noble.

On Friday, Cassella returned the opening kickoff 62 yards but touched the ball only once more until late in the third quarter, when he ripped off a 48-yard touchdown run to pull Greely into a 20-20 tie.

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It remained tied into the fourth, when Cassella carried 11 times and scored on runs of 3, 25 and 24 yards in a little less than five minutes. He finished with 140 yards on 24 carries.

“What it really came down to was the great blocking from the offensive line,” Cassella said. “They really set me up for success.”

Morse scored on the opening drive of the second half to open a 20-14 lead on a short run by Raz Balthazar, his second touchdown of the game. Greely scored the final 26 points and thwarted any Shipbuilder comeback attempts thanks to four sacks and a fumble recovery by defensive end Paul Buchanan, who also knocked down a pass.

“It helped that we knew they were passing,” Buchanan said. “We had a specific call for (a blitz) and it worked out really well. They didn’t see it coming.”

Morse quarterback Connor Upham completed 14 of 20 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked five times and had to fall on several wild snaps.

“We’ve got kids who have great heart and grit and resolve,” Morse Coach Jason Darling said. “We just have to put it together for 48 minutes or we’re going to be on the short side.”

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The score was tied at 14 at the half. Cassella’s long return set up a 17-yard scoring drive capped by Tim Coyle’s 1-yard run. Will Schumacher added a PAT run for an 8-0 lead.

Morse responded with a long scoring drive culminating in a 17-yard touchdown pass on fourth down from Upham to a wide-open Tyler York.

Greely went ahead 14-6 when quarterback Nick Gauvin hit a streaking Shane DeWolfe in stride for a 47-yard strike late in the first quarter.

The Shipbuilders pulled even late in the second quarter after a short Greely punt gave them field position at the Rangers 29. A fourth-down conversion of 11 yards on a slant pass from Upham to tight end Arius Eich paved the way for a 1-yard scoring plunge by Balthazar.

Eich made it 14-all by pulling in a deflected two-point conversion pass from Upham.

Coyle, originally a tight end, finished the game with 53 yards on 14 carries and spent much of the fourth quarter blocking for Cassella.

“At halftime, all we said to the kids was it’s up to you,” Greely Coach David Higgins said. “They came out a little flat in the third but they answered the call. It was just a beautiful thing. The kids matured a lot tonight.”


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