Last modified: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 12:14 AM EST Bishop Feehan's Matthew Boulter (11) is brought down by Alexander Galanis (55). (Staff photo by Martin Gavin) Shamrocks run Mansfield off the field BY MARK FARINELLA / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ACTON - The numbers told the story. In the second half of Tuesday's MIAA Division 2 football semifinal at Acton-Boxboro High's Leary Field, Bishop Feehan High's Shamrocks had the ball for 14 minutes and 21 seconds. Mansfield's Hornets had it for 5:39. In the third quarter alone, Feehan had the ball for 8:39, Mansfield for 1:21. Those numbers added up to success for the Shamrocks. "Ball possession was key," Feehan quarterback Mike McGowan said after the Shamrocks' 23-21 victory over the Hornets, earning them a berth in Saturday's Division 2 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium against Walpole. "We had to keep the ball and keep the chains moving. We did a great job our line and Nick Schwieger, our seniors really stepped up tonight." "Our line did a great job and Mike McGowan made a lot of plays on his feet today," said Schwieger, returning the compliment. "There was a lot of pressure and he was rolling out and scrambling and doing all he could do. All the credit goes to him and to the line. I was just trying to find the holes here and there, and it was all clicking." After seeing Mansfield take a 14-0 lead, the Shamrocks determined that they would be best served by keeping the ball for as long as they possibly could. As a result, they ran 42 rushing plays to Mansfield's 23, gaining 191 yards on the ground. Schwieger, the hard-running senior, accounted for 97 of those yards on 27 carries, while Mynor Chacon added 68 yards on 10 carries and McGowan 25 on four totes. In the second half, Feehan's ground game did something few teams have been able to do to the Hornets in some time - keep them off the field. The Shamrocks ran 14 running plays in two third-quarter possessions, and finally took the lead, 15-14, on Schwieger's 1-yard run with 59 seconds left in the Feehan-dominated quarter. "It just killed us," said Mansfield quarterback Mark Gilson, who is more used to seeing a possession offense work in his team's favor. "We came out at halftime and we were cold, we had just two plays and we were off again. We had no momentum and it felt like they were just killing us. The score wasn't even lopsided, but they just had the ball so long, it killed us." Although Mansfield stopped a Feehan penetration to the Hornet 12 on an alert slap-down by Mike Willhauck of a pass out of a field-goal formation by Schwieger, the Hornets turned the ball over on a fumble just two plays into the next possession. Feehan went 29 yards in eight plays to gain the lead, and Schwieger said he could feel the momentum falling into his team's lap. "In that third quarter, when we got the ball back after that fumble and we scored, we were up and I knew this was our game," he said. "If we wanted it, this was our game." A huge part of Feehan's second-half dominance was the blocking of its offensive line. Chris Vilandre, Chris Harris, Chris Paine, Jacob Curren and Kyle Schmitt joined with tight end Nick Linehan to open holes for their running backs and keep the clock moving as well as the chains. "Our offensive line just carries us," McGowan said. "And with Nick and Mynor in the backfield, there's nothing they can do." The Shamrocks converted eight of nine third-down situations in the second half, which is a recipe for success at any level of football, from the pros to the peewees. "I am proud, proud of the seniors, proud of the underclassmen, too," said McGowan. "They really stepped up, too. It was a great team effort." For video highlights courtesy of NorthTV, visit thesunchronicle.com/sports.