Tallan King, shown here during the regular season, came up with a clutch interception late to solidify King Philip's return trip to the Super Bowl, except one division lower this year.
Tallan King, shown here during the regular season, came up with a clutch interception late to solidify King Philip's return trip to the Super Bowl, except one division lower this year.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
BRIDGEWATER — With one minute left in the fourth quarter, King Philip was clinging to an 8-point lead. The defense had just given up a 40-yard completion and needed a stand.
Senior captain Tallan King read the quarterback’s eyes, dropped back in coverage and intercepted the pass, sending the top-seeded Warriors to Gillette Stadium to play for a state championship for the eighth time in nine seasons with a 21-13 Division 3 win over No. 12 Malden Catholic.
“It was obviously huge for us” said King, whose Warriors lost, 39-21, to Catholic Memorial in last year’s D2 championship, but have since moved down a division in the MIAA alignments. “On defense, we were struggling the whole game. We got some stops here and there. And to finally put it away felt amazing.”
Timely defensive plays were the theme of the night for the Warriors (11-0). In the final minute of the first half, cornerback Jerry Springer intercepted Malden Catholic quarterback Dominik Mercier in the end zone.
Late in the third quarter, after Malden Catholic receiver Jeremiah Figaro made a fantastic contested catch to set the Lancers up at the King Philip 1-yard line, the Warriors made another stand.
A false start penalty and a sack by King Philip’s Ryan Greenwood pushed Malden Catholic back to the Warriors’ 24. The Lancers (5-6) wound up missing a go-ahead 31-yard field goal on the drive.
“We were just hanging on there, trying to make plays” said King Philip coach Brian Lee. “The defense made adjustments, and we made more plays. When we needed a sack, we got it.”
The final score is not indicative of how the game started. Both teams were able to go blow-for-blow offensively early on.
King (11 carries, 75 yards) got the scoring going with a 44-yard touchdown. The Lancers responded with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Mercier to Trayvon Turner to make it 7-6 Malden Catholic.
On the first play of the second quarter, the Warriors took the lead for good. On fourth down and goal from the 1, King Philip ran an option and quarterback Zach Gebhard flipped the ball out to Keigan Canto-Osorio (27 carries, 137 yards) for the touchdown. The two-point attempt put the Warriors up 14-7.
Malden Catholic responded with a 3-yard scamper from Mercier to make the score, 14-13. The extra point sailed wide right keeping the Warriors ahead.
King scored the final touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run halfway through the fourth quarter.
The win sets up an all-Hockomock final between the Warriors and North Attleborough. The teams met in the regular season. King Philip prevailed 21-7 in that matchup.
“It just goes to show what Hockomock football is” said Lee.