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| Hingham and Duxbury played a memorable, and controversial game for the Patriot League Keenan crown. |
For Eastern Massachusetts, the regular season is officially in the books, and on Sunday morning the postseason pairings were announced at the MIAA headquarters in Franklin.
Meanwhile, in Central and Western Massachusetts, one more week of regular season football remains before they get their playoff portion of the schedule underway a week from Friday.
Upon initial review, there are handful of entertaining week one playoff matchups, including No. 5 Whitman-Hanson and No. 4 Stoughton in Div. 3 South, as well as No. 5 Marshfield and No. 4 Mansfield in Div. 2 South.
Before we get to those opening round contests, as well an exhilarating week eight that is sure to come out of Central and Western Mass, let’s take a look back at week seven.
Duxbury Squeaks out 10th Consecutive Patriot League Keenan Title
Early Saturday afternoon it looked as though Hingham was on its way to snapping Duxbury’s streak of nine straight Patriot League titles.
An Alex Deidrich 88-yard fumble return, combined with a four-yard touchdown run by Jackson Johnson (11-for-28, 195 yards) on a quarterback sneak gave the Harbormen a 13-0 edge at the intermission.
Duxbury, however, made it clear in the second half they had no interest in relinquishing their reign atop the Patriot League.
The Dragons received the ball to begin the third stanza and immediately punched one in when John Roberts ran it in from a yard out.
Later in the frame on fourth and goal from the one, Frankie Tower plowed up the middle to give Duxbury a 14-13 lead.
Hingham had a chance to retake the lead, but two touchdowns were wiped off the board due to penalties and, in the fourth quarter, the Dragons defense did not allow the Harbormen to cross midfield.
“Doing anything 10 times in a row isn’t easy,” Duxbury head coach Dave Maimaron said. “This one was the toughest one yet. That’s just a testament to our senior class that they’ll have a banner hanging in that gym for the rest of their lives
The win handed Duxbury the number two seed in Division 3 South with a potential rematch with Hingham looming in round two.
Bridgewater-Raynham Proves to Be Road Warriors
Heading into the postseason, there may be no team playing better than Bridgewater-Raynaham.
The Trojans capped off a five-game winning streak to close the season with a monster 20-13 road win over St. John’s Prep on Friday night.
Devonte Greaves and Bryce Shaw led the notorious ground-and-pound Trojan’s offense, combining for 144 yards and a touchdown in the opening half.
It was the Bridgewater-Raynham defense, however, that stole the show most of the night. The Trojans picked off St. John’s Prep quarterback Matt Crowley twice in the contest, including once when the Eagles were on the goal line.
The most crucial turnover came with less than 10 minutes to go in the game and the Trojans holding a 13-7 lead.
Kyle Duggan picked off Crowley and returned it to the Prep 30-yard line. Moments later, Bridgewater-Raynham quarterback Corey Sullivan hit Jeff Ciccio for an 18-yard touchdown to seal the win.
Nashoba grinds it out vs Wachusett to Remain Unbeaten
While most of Nashoba’s wins this season have come in blowout fashion, the Chieftains proved on Friday they can win in a variety of ways.
After being held scoreless at the half against Wachusett, the Chieftains put up a nine spot in the third quarter, and pitched a shutout en route to a 9-0 win over the Mountaineers.
Breese Hill got Nashoba on the board early in the third quarter taking an end around and going 20 yards down the left sideline to put the Chieftains up 7-0.
On Wachusett’s ensuing possession, a bad snap resulted in a safety, handing Nashoba a 9-0 lead.
The nine points were more than enough for the Chieftan’s defense, which held Wachusett to just 237 yards of offense.
A prime scoring chance eluded the Mountaineers early in the second quarter as they failed to convert on fourth and a yard from the Nashoba five yard-line.
The win is Nashoba’s second against a Mid-Watch A program this season, showing that the Chieftains can play with the biggest schools in Central Mass.
Other Notable Performances
-King Philip capped off a perfect regular season with a dominating win over Taunton, in which senior captain Andrew Dittrich came up with three interceptions, including two that went for touchdowns.
-In a game where the two sides combined for 115 points, Lincoln-Sudbury outlasted Cambridge 77-38, behind four rushing touchdowns from James Dillon.
-Shamus Cochrane ran for 228 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns to lead Bishop Feehan to a 34-21 win over Bishop Stang in Eastern Athletic Conference action.
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