Russell, Ground Game Runs Stoneham to Fourth Straight Sectional Final

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

Stoneham, Mass. -- Seth Russell has Stoneham heading to a fourth straight sectional final.

Russell rushed for 135 yards and four touchdowns as defending Div. 6 North champion Stoneham defeated Bishop Fenwick, 48-20, on Thursday night at Stoneham High School.

Throughout the game, Stoneham's rushing attack was unstoppable. It was the third straight week in which Stoneham only threw pass for the game. Out of the 455 yards of offense that the Spartans amassed on the evening, 392 came on the ground.

"I got amazing blocks from line and I was able to hit the holes," said Russell. "We've been to the sectional final the last three years, and its just an expectation now that we've set for ourselves."

Along with Russell, star running back Christos Argyropoulos rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns while quarterback Deshaun Chase broke a touchdown run of his own. 

"Seth is a terrific back, it just so happens that for most of the year, Christos (Argryopoulos) has been able to get the long runs," said Stoneham coach Bob Almeida. "Christos was out most of the preseason and Seth did an unbelievable job. He's a great back "

Bishop Fenwick had a chance to score on the opening drive of the game, but Cory Bright's pass was intercepted by Thomas Pizzi at the five yard line turning possession back over to the Spartans.

Moments later, the Spartans broke the ice with Chase breaking free for a 56-yard touchdown run to give Stoneham an 8-0 lead.

Bishop Fenwick got on the board on its ensuing drive courtesy of a 18 yard touchdown pass from Bright to Joe Rivers to trim the Spartans lead to 8-7 after one.

It was all Stoneham in the second quarter as the Spartans scored 26 unanswered points to take a commanding lead going into the half.

The Spartans used a combination of misdirections, counters, tosses, and sweeps to keep the Fenwick defense on its heels. 

Russell rushed for touchdowns of 15, 54, and 1 yards in length. Argyropoulos, meanwhile, added a 15 yard touchdown run of his own to help put the Spartans up 34-7 at the half. 

"We have good players, our full backs couldn't get much going tonight but they've been really effective and then if you take your eye off (Chase) he can really run too," said Almeida. "We have a good quarterback but we have some really good backs and we've been doing this every week offensively."

Russell added his fourth touchdown of the night to begin the second half. After Argryopoulos powered through on fourth down and two for six yards, Russell split the tackles off a counter and found a burst of speed for a 23-yard touchdown run that gave Stoneham a commanding 33-point edge.

Argryopolous capped off the onslaught with an electric 68 yard touchdown run in which he broke a trio of tackles at the line of scrimmage.