'We fed off of his toughness': Cole Rego rising to challenge for Case football

SWANSEA — With Joseph Case starting running back Aedan Borges nursing an injury, Cole Rego was thrusted into action against West Bridgewater in Week 5.

Little did the Swansea resident know, he would come through with a career game.

"Coming into this game, I knew I had to step up big time," Rego said. "One of our best players was injured. I knew I had to fill that big gap we had."

The Cardinals sophomore back finished with a team-high 141 yards on 25 carries. Four different times in the first half, Rego was tackled behind the line of scrimmage but he made up for it and more the rest of the game. Seven carries netted Rego 10 yards or more.

"Our O-line, I give a lot of credit to," he said. "They made big holes for me to run through and playing our hardest no matter what the score was."

Case head coach Anthony Palladino said his team stepped up after a subpar performance against Blackstone Valley in Week 4. He was very pleased with the effort of Rego.

"We relied on Cole, despite him being a young kid," Palladino said. "He's a huge part of what we're doing. Cole is a part of our heart and soul out there. He's also our inside linebacker on defense and I think he played all but three snaps tonight.

"He was an absolute dog in every sense of the term. He's an unbelievable kid. Cole led us today by being tough and I think we fed off of his toughness."

Each of the Cardinals touchdown drives, Rego carried the ball a majority of the time.

"He did a great job and picked it up," Case quarterback Lucas Beaulieu said. "We had a lot of time possession, going into the next game. It was very positive with him running the ball. With a lot of guys coming back next week, I think we have a good chance."

Rego played youth football in the fourth grade for the East Bay Warriors before starting his high school career as a freshman.

Although he said he did not eat his Wheaties the morning of the game, one might say he should duplicate his breakfast prior to Game Day.

Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette sports editor Steven Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@heraldnews.com. You can follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @Chezsports.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: 'We fed off of his toughness': Cole Rego rising to challenge for Case football