Duxbury smashes Tewksbury 35-6 to reach D3 final

WESTWOOD – The Duxbury High football team is a puzzle. And with a berth in the state championship game on the line, Tewksbury just couldn’t solve the Dragons on either side of the ball.

Quarterback Will Prouty threw four touchdown passes and ran for a score while leading Duxbury to a convincing, 35-6, victory over the Redmen in an MIAA Division 3 state semifinal at Xaverian Brothers High School Saturday afternoon.

Danny Fleming scored Tewksbury’s touchdown, hauling in a 48-yard touchdown pass from Ryne Rametta on the final play. Tewksbury is now 9-2. The Redmen defeated Duxbury in the Division 3 state semifinal last November.

“That’s the best team we’ve played,” said Tewksbury coach Brian Aylward. “They are athletic everywhere. They did a good job. They are a good team.

“Our guys fought hard. They had some mismatches that we knew going in. But we’ve been overcoming mismatches (throughout the playoffs) so that’s not new to us. But this was a little bit too extreme. They were all over the place. They have good speed up front. Their quarterback is a good athlete. We tried our best to take a run at them. They’re a good team and I wish them luck.”

Duxbury (9-2) will play defending champion Springfield Central (9-2) in the Division 3 state final at Gillette Stadium. Springfield Central earned its berth in the title game with a 64-33 victory over St. John’s of Shrewsbury on Friday. Last year, Springfield Central defeated Tewksbury, 20-7, in the state final.

“It’s awesome,” said Duxbury coach Dave Maimaron. “Every team wants to go to Gillette. And we’re one of the 16 teams in the state that will be able to go to Gillette. So it’s quite an honor for these seniors to get another week together. I’m very happy for them.”

Duxbury started fast and Tewksbury was unable to slow the Green Dragons down. Prouty threw first-quarter touchdown passes of 24 yards to Tim Landofli and 38 yards to Cam Reagan, and the Redmen found themselves in a deep early hole.

“Once we got behind a little bit we had to kind of get out of our game plan a little bit,” said Aylward. “Not that that (game plan) was particularly good today.”

Duxbury increased its lead to 21-0 on its third offensive possession. Prouty hooked up with Brady Madigan on a 22-yard scoring pass with 9:58 left to play in the second quarter.

“Will was just throwing to the right guys,” said Maimaron. “He was reading the defense the right way and getting the ball out on time. They put a lot of pressure on you. They have a very good defense. Will just stayed in there with a lot of poise.”

Duxbury drove to the Tewksbury 4 yard line on its fourth possession. But Redmen defensive back William McKay ended the scoring threat with an interception.

On the opening drive of the second half, the Green Dragons marched 73 yards for a score. Prouty capped the drive with a 13 yard TD run that stretched the lead to 28-0.

With 6:49 left to play, Prouty completed his big day with a 28 yard TD pass to James Anderson. Prouty finished with 254 yards passing. Brett Souza kicked the PAT after all five Duxbury touchdowns

Richard Markwarth was a force on defense for the Redmen, finishing with a pair of sacks. Senior standout Shane Aylward, who had been sidelined by injury for Tewksbury’s three previous playoff games, returned to the lineup and had three receptions and played well defensively in the secondary.

Rametta, a junior first-year starter, completed 11 passes for 96 yards, including his long scoring strike to Danny Fleming.

“Our guys worked all the way to the end,” said Aylward. “As long as they do that I’m on their side. I love our guys. It’s a tremendous accomplishment to get in this game. A lot of teams want to be in this game. And they fought their way to get into it. It was just a little bit too tall a challenge for us today.”

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/35uOl2e