13ENTERPRISENEWS.COM M O N DAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

Patriot dump Dolphinsto clinch fourth straightAFC East titleBy Steven WineTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI – Two yards from a touch-down on third down, Tom Brady tookthe snap and fell to the turf curledaround the ball, happy to settle for afield goal.

The high-scoringNew England Patriotswent conservative Sun-

day, and the approach paid off with an-other AFC East championship.

Brady stuck with short throws formuch of the afternoon and was contentto hand off during a clock-consumingdrive in the fourth quarter that helpedthe Patriots beat Miami, 23-16, to

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HIGH SCHOOLS, COLLEGES / 14CELTICS, PRO FOOTBALL / 15MOTOR MATTERS, SCOREBOARD / 16SCOREBOARD / 17

EXTRAPOINTS

HISTORY LESSONOn this date in ...

1956: Wilt Chamberlain(above) scores 52 points inhis Kansas collegiate debut.

1973: Dick Anderson ofthe Miami Dolphins inter-cepts four passes, returningtwo for touchdowns, againstP i t t s b u rg h .

1979: Southern Californiahalfback Charles White isnamed the Heisman Trophyw i n n e r.

1982: Tommy Hearnswins the WBC welterweighttitle with a 15-round deci-sion over Wilfred Benitez inNew Orleans.

2000: The 200-yard rush-ing games by Mike Ander-son, Corey Dillon, WarrickDunn and Curtis Martinmark the first time in NFLhistory that four runnershave 200 yards on the samed a y.

NORTHERN ILLINOISA BCS BUSTER

What a weekend forNorthern Illinois: Win a con-ference championship, losea coach and bust the BCS.

The Huskies are headedto the Orange Bowl, set tomake their Bowl Champi-onship Series debut againstFlorida State. Northern Illi-nois won the Mid-AmericanConference title on Friday,lost coach Dave Doeren(above) to North CarolinaState on Saturday, and thenspent Sunday waiting to seeif it cracked the top 16 in thefinal BCS standings.

By 0.0404 points, theHuskies did just that to playin Miami on Jan. 1

While the MAC champi-ons (12-1) were 15th in thefinal BCS standings, Okla-homa, which finished 11th,was left out of a BCS bowlbid.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 23DOLPHINS 16

clinch their fourth consecutive divisiontitle.

“It’s not supposed to be easy, and itwa s n ’t easy today,” Brady said.

Dolphins mistakes proved pivotal.A botched punt, roughing-the-punterpenalty and fumble by Miami resultedin 17 New England points, and anotherpenalty negated a Dolphins touch-d ow n .

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 Belichicksaid.

The Patriots have won six consecu-tive games and are assured of their 12thwinning season in a row.

The Dolphins (5-7) hurt their al-ready slim playoff chances and lost to

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS� Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker gestures to fans as he leaves the field in Miamion Sunday following New England’s 23-16 win over the Dolphins.

MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE� 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 inthe 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 WAVEAbington High’s unbeatenDiv. 4 Super Bowl champsmay have been best squadever for Green Wave

By John BotelhoFOR THE PATRIOT LEDGER

ABINGTON – The 2012 Abington GreenWave football team ensured that it will beremembered as one of the best teams inschool 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 whencompared to Abington High’s previous Super Bowl

champions of 2002 and 2005, allow long-time headcoach Jim Kelliher to offer his perspective.

“They have to rank up there with them,” Ke l l i h e rsaid. “Those teams had a little bit different pictureabout them. They were probably a little more explosivethan our team right now, but we put plenty of points onthe board and kept points off of it for the opposition.

“This team has to be one of the top teams any

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Brockton High’s loss inDiv. 1 Super Bowl sourfinish to sweet seasonBy Chris McDanielENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

Although Brockton High fell shortin its football quest to win a 12thMIAA EMass. Super Bowl trophy

on Saturday night, head coach PeterColombo still views this season’s Big

Three champs as one of the best he hasever coached.

“I put them at the top of list,” saidColombo of this year’s squad to his pre-vious Brockton High Super Bowl en-tries. “We were very fortunate to win itall in ’04 and ’05. One bounce of thefootball could have gone for the otherteam and that would have been the dif-ference (in 2004 and 2005).”

The Boxers’ run at the title ended atthe hands of a familiar foe in St. John’sPrep Saturday night in a 48-28 loss atBentley University.

“We were one of the two teams in

Div. 1 to play in that game,” saidColombo of his team’s achievement.

What stands out the most about thisye a r ’s Boxers was their ability to over-come adversity. Brockton High’s diffi-culty of schedule ranks among thetoughest in the state with four gamesagainst Super Bowl champs in St.John’s Prep twice (Div. 1), Reading(Div. 2) and Leominister (Central Mass.Div. 1).

MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE� Brockton High coach Peter Colombodisagrees with a call Saturday night.

WAV E / PAGE 14

BOXERS/PAGE 14

CROWNING/PAGE 15