Football Struggles Continue Against Walpole

• Needham was looking for their first win of the season, while Walpole hoped to make it two in a row. 

The 2025 season has been rough on the Needham Varsity Football team, with the 2024 MIAA D1 State Finalists dropping each of their first three games to tough teams in Milton, Natick and Lincoln-Sudbury. After a week off, the Rockets returned to the field Friday night, hosting Bay State Conference rival Walpole, where their struggles continued, falling 34-14.

After falling to King Philip, Foxborough and Natick in their first three games, Walpole finally found the win column on September 26th, when they beat Wellesley at home. The Timberwolves got things started Friday with an 11 play, 68 yard drive that culminated in a two yard touchdown run by Senior Captain Dillon Needham.

With the score 7-0 Walpole heading to the 2nd Quarter, the Rockets had a drive stall at the Walpole 22 yard line. The T’wolves then marched 78 yards on 10 plays, finishing with a four yard TD run by Senior Captain Cole Pileski. Walpole added two more scores in the 2nd, a one yard TD run by Patrick McCabe, as well as a 19 yard TD pass from Blake Pileski to his brother Cole.

A 28-0 Walpole lead lasted until the 4th Quarter, when Needham scored twice: first on a six yard TD reception by Caden McNamee thrown by Tyler Langford and the second a three yard TD run by Owen Gonzalez. The Timberwolves picked up one more score late, on a 28 yard TD run by Dillon Needham, his second of the game.

Dillon Needham finished with 87 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Blake Pileski completed 10-of-13 passes for 177 yards. The T’wolves had 135 total rushing yards and 312 total offensive yards. Needham was led by Joey Saratella’s 40 rushing yards on 7 carries, as well as 102 passing yards from Langford, on 14-of-27 completions.

Parker Amodeo also had a big night for the Rockets defense, with two sacks, a fumble recovery and a few big tackles. Needham finished with 67 total rushing yards and 169 total offensive yards as a team.

Despite their three losses to start the year, Needham’s strength of schedule helped them in the first MIAA D1 Power Rankings, as they were #17 on September 26th, then moved up to 16 in the newest rankings released the morning of October 3rd. The top 16 teams in the rankings qualify for the playoffs. At 1-3, Walpole was ranked at #8 in the Division 4 Power Rankings.

Up next is a short week for the Rockets (0-4), as they will visit Newton North on Thursday, October 9th at 6 p.m. Walpole (2-3) has a week off before hosting Milton on October 17th.