A few blocks away from Nickerson Field, where he capped his high school career at Brockton High with a Super Bowl win in 1972, Peter Colombo ended his storied coaching career by steering his Boxers to a 31-20 victory over Bridgewater-Raynham at Fenway Park.
The 19-year Brockton coach succeeded his father, legendary coach Armond Colombo, in 2004, and coached the Boxers to five Super Bowl appearances and two state titles in 2004 and 2005, finishing with a record of 142-80-1.
“It’s a little surreal,” said Colombo. “My dad talked about the sadness of giving this up, so I know what he meant. We’ve been looking forward to this since the summer, knowing we’d be here at Fenway. We have a special group and I’m proud of the way they played. It’s a great way to wrap it up.”
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Brockton (9-2, 4-0) finished with nine wins for the first time since 2012 and clinched a second straight Southeast Conference title by topping B-R (5-6, 3-1) in the 12th installment of a relatively new Thanksgiving rivalry.
Junior quarterback Cam Monteiro (17 carries, 155 yards, 2 TD) and senior Kole Osinubi (14 carries, 127 yards, 2 TD) sparked the offense with huge plays in the second half after Osinubi’s 1-yard touchdown plunge gave Brockton a 6-0 advantage heading into the half.
Things opened up for both offenses in the third quarter with Dawson DuBose (24 carries, 160 yards) ripping off touchdown runs of 15 and 45 yards for B-R, while Osinubi countered with a 65-yard touchdown run and Monteiro scored from 77 and 6 yards out.
The Boxers made a few more key plays defensively with senior linebacker Christian Pina leading the charge on a key fourth down stop in the third quarter before recovering a fumble in the fourth quarter.
Colombo isn’t ruling out a return to the sidelines in some capacity, but next season, a Colombo will not be the head coach at Brockton for the first time since 1969. Colombo was the first of five brothers to play for his father, who led Brockton to eight Super Bowl wins and stayed on as an assistant until 2017, a year before his death.
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“This is my life,” Colombo said when asked what the program means to him. “Fifty years ago we won the Super Bowl, me and my dad, right up the street at BU. The legacy and the brotherhood of Brockton football, it’s really a special thing, and I guess I’ve been around for a lot of it. It’s been awesome.”
