St. Mary's Wins State Title, Defeats Stoneham In Division 6 Super Bowl

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Stoneham struck first, but the St. Mary's football team ultimately bounced back, defeating top-ranked Stoneham Saturday in Foxborough in the Division 6 MIAA Super Bowl.

St. Mary’s of Lynn, battled its way past Stoneham through rain at Gillette Stadium for its first state championship since 2005.

Four years after a Super Bowl loss for St. Mary’s, and a year after a semifinal defeat in 2021, Saturday’s win came as a welcome triumph for a team that coach Sean Driscoll said had entered this year with clear aspirations.

“Our goal was to get back here and win it,” Driscoll said after the win.

Stoneham opened the action on Saturday with a roughly nine-minute drive to the endzone.

Colin Farren punched in a 9-yard run for the Spartans, which his team followed with a successful two-point conversation for an 8-0 lead.

St. Mary’s was able to answer before the end of the first quarter, knotting the score at 8-8 on a rushing touchdown and two-point conversion, both by senior David Brown.

Brown added a second score in the second quarter, running a 62-yard sprint for a touchdown and an eventual 15-8 lead. St. Mary’s expanded its advantage from there in the second half to secure the 29-8 win.

Brown, a senior, finished his high school football career with three touchdowns and 195 rushing yards on 17 carries in the Super Bowl. Brown added 12 receiving yards in the third quarter with his third touchdown of the day.

Last year’s finish, Brown said, was hard. This weekend’s win, he continued, was extra sweet.

“Best moment of my life,” he said

Driscoll praised Brown in postgame comments, calling him a “special player” and a “special person.”

“He’s even a better person than he is an athlete,” Driscoll said.

Driscoll similarly praised a larger cadre of St. Mary’s contributors who helped hoist a state championship trophy this year.

“They really worked their tails off,” he said.

Driscoll said his team came prepared for a tough game against Stoneham. After Stoneham burned through much of the first quarter on its opening scoring drive, Driscoll said it was then time for his players to “settle in.”

“Once we settled in,” he said, “our defense rose to the occasion.”

“They control the clock and keep your offense off the field,” Driscoll said of Stoneham. “We had to make the most of our offensive possessions. I think we did that."

Stoneham soared into the playoffs this fall after securing the number one spot in state regular season power rankings.

Stoneham lost just one regular season game on its way to a 7-1 record.

The team then marched through its postseason bracket, beating Assabet Valley and Oakmont Regional High School by wide margins before facing a tighter matchup in the state semifinal against Cardinal Spellman.

St. Mary’s finished third in regular season power rankings with an identical 7-1 record to Stoneham.

St. Mary’s proceeded to get past Archbishop Williams, Lynnfield and Rockland to earn its spot in the state championship this weekend.

See also: History, Persistence As Wakefield Beats Milton In DIII Super Bowl

North Reading Beats Shawsheen Tech In MIAA Division 5 Super Bowl