Nantucket knocks off top-seeded Cohasset

COHASSET — Before head coach Joe Perry addressed his team postgame, the Nantucket Whalers all screamed three words in unison three different times as a rally call. It was spot on as they continue to surprise in the Division 7 South Sectionals.

“Now you know.”

The revenge tour continues for the No. 5 Whalers as they knocked off top seeded Cohasset 23-0 in the Division 7 South Sectional semifinals to advance to face Abington on Friday for a trip to Gillette Stadium.

In the first round, Nantucket (6-3) knocked off Mashpee in similar shutout fashion with a 42-0 win after losing 38-8 in Week 2 of the regular season.

“In the first go around, (Darian) Duarte, (Torane) Burton, and (Devonte) Usher were out and we had to take our lumps in the first three games of the season,” said Perry. “We bounced back and on a little roll right now. Our defensive coordinator Mark Willett – again, goose egg – you can’t ask for anything better.”

The game was a defensive battle through out with seven punts and three turnover on downs between the squads for much of the first half.

But just when both teams were settling for a scoreless tie at the half, Justin Bloise took an intended screen pass down the right sideline for a 39-yard touchdown run. Bloise was set up to take the screen pass but Makai Bodden’s pass fluttered behind the line of scrimmage. Bloise bounced off a tackle and outside to pick up the first score of the game with nine seconds left before the break.

“This was really a reversal of fortune the second time around but really the speed they were able to generate off the edge defensively and close down – we had some sustained success – but it was so difficult to maintain,” said Cohasset head coach, Pete Afanasiw. “It (first half touchdown) was tough but the defense played well but again, we really don’t have that kind of speed.”

Cohasset (6-3) could not muster anything in the first half with only 80 yards of total offense and it was much of the same in the second stanza despite keeping things close until the fourth quarter.

As Perry described, Darian Duarte and Torane Burton missed the first tilt between these two schools, but made their presence known in the final quarter of this one for the Whalers.

On Nantucket’s second possession of the second half, Duarte gashed the Skippers defense for a 28-yard run to set up his own three-yard dive to give Nantucket the 13-0 lead.

Cohasset was able to get some momentum with an eight-play drive midway through the fourth. But a key sack from Darrian Nangle off the right edge resulted in a sack and a 12-yard loss for the Skippers on a third-and-four play on the Whalers’ 27-yard line.

Burton scored four plays later on a reverse counter for a 57-yard touchdown run. Burton got into the secondary and with a jump stop usually reserved for the basketball court froze the Skippers on defense and went in untouched, splitting the seam of the defense.

Cohasset was forced to go to the air and Whalers defensive back Malique Bodden was thrilled with two interceptions – including one he ran back 52 yards to the Cohasset 11-yard line to set up a Nangle 27-yard field goal with just over six minutes left to play.

“(Cohasset) was pushing us around a little bit but our front four, I told them this week, its starts in the pit right there. It started in the pit at Mashpee, and that’s where it’s all going to be,” added Perry. “It’s onto Abington – we’ve been here before.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2K5QNnI