Previewing the South Shore’s Super Bowl slate: K&J Sports Show Ep. 13
Hosts Jason Snow and Chris McDaniel dive into each matchup as six South Shore high school football teams have reached the Super Bowl.
FOXBORO — In a postgame whirlwind of celebration, Xaverian football players rushed to the locker room chanting.
‘We love C.L.B.’, they exclaimed.
Caleb Brown, who they were affectionally referring to, couldn’t help but smile.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound receiver from Brockton just had the game of his career. He caught three passes, all for TDs, for a total of 62 yards as Xaverian dethroned reigning champ St. John’s Prep, 31-25, in the Division 1 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium Wednesday night.
“Caleb Brown has not been put in the spotlight as much as he should,” said senior quarterback Henry Hasselbeck, who rushed 13 times for 122 yards and completed 7 of 13 passes for 101 yards in the win. “He’s a great player, one of the toughest kids I know and a freak athlete. People don’t know that. I trust him fully, our team trusts him fully and our whole Hawks Nest him fully. That’s why I put so much faith in him in the game.”
Entering the game, Brown had three touchdowns in total on the season. His sixth on the year was the go-ahead push that put Xaverian in a position to clinch the title.
Hasselbeck found Brown for an 18-yard score to put the Hawks in front, 28-25, at the 11:47 mark of the fourth quarter.
More: MIAA Super Bowl coverage: Live updates from the high school football state championships
Brown, who doubles as a free safety, also swatted away the final heave St. John’s Prep thrusted to the end zone with one second left to protect the Hawks’ 31-25 lead late, the exclamation point to Xaverian’s defense pitching a shutout in the fourth quarter.
“Man, (this jersey) is gonna go up on the wall or something in my future home 10 years down the line. I’m definitely going to remember this. I might have to steal this jersey,” Brown said with a laugh.
His first two touchdown receptions — the first from 19 yards out, and the second an over-the-shoulder grab in the back of the end zone from 25 yards out — came in the first half as Xaverian took a 14-12 edge at the break.
More: ‘A football town now’: Appearance in Div. 8 Super Bowl a sign of Carver High’s new era
“He had the hat trick. He’s going to make somebody (a college team) very happy. He’s a true competitor,” said head coach Al Fornaro. “He comes to practice every day, practices hard and it bore out tonight.”
Brown moved to Brockton from Stoughton six years ago and played at Xaverian all four years of high school. His uptick in targets came as a result of standout receiver Jonathan Monteiro being inactive due to an injury suffered in the team’s 20-17 semifinal win over Needham.
“The biggest game, but I just had to keep the nerves down,” Brown said. “Just do what I always do. … It feels like a dream.”
