1. 13ENTERPRISENEWS.COM MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012
Patriot dump Dolphins
to clinch fourth straight
AFC East title
By Steven Wine
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI – Two yards from a touch-
down on third down, Tom Brady took
the snap and fell to the turf curled
around the ball, happy to settle for a
field goal.
The high-scoring
New England Patriots
went conservative Sun-
day, and the approach paid off with an-
other AFC East championship.
Brady stuck with short throws for
much of the afternoon and was content
to hand off during a clock-consuming
drive in the fourth quarter that helped
the Patriots beat Miami, 23-16, to
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HIGH SCHOOLS, COLLEGES / 14
CELTICS, PRO FOOTBALL / 15
MOTOR MATTERS, SCOREBOARD / 16
SCOREBOARD / 17
EXTRA
POINTS
HISTORY LESSON
On this date in ...
1956: Wilt Chamberlain
(above) scores 52 points in
his Kansas collegiate debut.
1973: Dick Anderson of
the Miami Dolphins inter-
cepts four passes, returning
two for touchdowns, against
Pittsburgh.
1979: Southern California
halfback Charles White is
named the Heisman Trophy
winner.
1982: Tommy Hearns
wins the WBC welterweight
title with a 15-round deci-
sion over Wilfred Benitez in
New Orleans.
2000: The 200-yard rush-
ing games by Mike Ander-
son, Corey Dillon, Warrick
Dunn and Curtis Martin
mark the first time in NFL
history that four runners
have 200 yards on the same
day.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
A BCS BUSTER
What a weekend for
Northern Illinois: Win a con-
ference championship, lose
a coach and bust the BCS.
The Huskies are headed
to the Orange Bowl, set to
make their Bowl Champi-
onship Series debut against
Florida State. Northern Illi-
nois won the Mid-American
Conference title on Friday,
lost coach Dave Doeren
(above) to North Carolina
State on Saturday, and then
spent Sunday waiting to see
if it cracked the top 16 in the
final BCS standings.
By 0.0404 points, the
Huskies did just that to play
in Miami on Jan. 1
While the MAC champi-
ons (12-1) were 15th in the
final BCS standings, Okla-
homa, which finished 11th,
was left out of a BCS bowl
bid.
Bowl matchups/Page 16
Crowning achievement
H I G H S C H O O L F O O T B A L L
PATRIOTS 23
DOLPHINS 16
clinch their fourth consecutive division
title.
“It’s not supposed to be easy, and it
wasn’t easy today,” Brady said.
Dolphins mistakes proved pivotal.
A botched punt, roughing-the-punter
penalty and fumble by Miami resulted
in 17 New England points, and another
penalty negated a Dolphins touch-
down.
The Patriots (9-3) wore champi-
onship caps and T-shirts afterward.
“It’s good to be back in the postsea-
son,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick
said.
The Patriots have won six consecu-
tive games and are assured of their 12th
winning season in a row.
The Dolphins (5-7) hurt their al-
ready slim playoff chances and lost to
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
I Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker gestures to fans as he leaves the field in Miami
on Sunday following New England’s 23-16 win over the Dolphins.
MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE
I Abington High’s Joe Brady, center, celebrates with his teammates as St. Mary’s of Lynn’s Connor Sakowich looks on after Brady’s late fourth quarter interception in
the Green Wave’s 14-8 Div. 4 Super Bowl win at Curry College in Milton on Saturday.
Despite falling short, Boxers can still stand tall
THE PERFECT WAVE
Abington High’s unbeaten
Div. 4 Super Bowl champs
may have been best squad
ever for Green Wave
By John Botelho
FOR THE PATRIOT LEDGER
A
BINGTON – The 2012 Abington Green
Wave football team ensured that it will be
remembered as one of the best teams in
school history with its 14-8 EMass. Div. 4
Super Bowl win over St. Mary’s of Lynn at Curry Col-
lege on Saturday.
But as to where it ranks exactly, especially when
compared to Abington High’s previous Super Bowl
champions of 2002 and 2005, allow long-time head
coach Jim Kelliher to offer his perspective.
“They have to rank up there with them,” Kelliher
said. “Those teams had a little bit different picture
about them. They were probably a little more explosive
than our team right now, but we put plenty of points on
the board and kept points off of it for the opposition.
“This team has to be one of the top teams any
TAKE OUR POLL
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Fame is most deserving of
induction into Cooper-
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Roger Clemens
Barry Bonds
Sammy Sosa
None of the above
Brockton High’s loss in
Div. 1 Super Bowl sour
finish to sweet season
By Chris McDaniel
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
A
lthough Brockton High fell short
in its football quest to win a 12th
MIAA EMass. Super Bowl trophy
on Saturday night, head coach Peter
Colombo still views this season’s Big
Three champs as one of the best he has
“I put them at the top of list,” said
Colombo of this year’s squad to his pre-
vious Brockton High Super Bowl en-
tries. “We were very fortunate to win it
all in ’04 and ’05. One bounce of the
football could have gone for the other
team and that would have been the dif-
ference (in 2004 and 2005).”
The Boxers’ run at the title ended at
the hands of a familiar foe in St. John’s
Prep Saturday night in a 48-28 loss at
Bentley University.
Div. 1 to play in that game,” said
Colombo of his team’s achievement.
What stands out the most about this
year’s Boxers was their ability to over-
come adversity. Brockton High’s diffi-
culty of schedule ranks among the
toughest in the state with four games
against Super Bowl champs in St.
John’s Prep twice (Div. 1), Reading
(Div. 2) and Leominister (Central Mass.
Div. 1).
MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE
I Brockton High coach Peter Colombo
disagrees with a call Saturday night.
WAVE/PAGE 14
BOXERS/PAGE 14
CROWNING/PAGE 15