COHASSET – In what ended up being a one-score contest, Cohasset used a powerful speeding assault within the second half to upend Manchester-Essex at house.
The two-seeded Skippers completed with 226 yards on the bottom in addition to 4 speeding scores to take down the No. 15 Hornets, 35-28, at Alumni Field on Friday within the Div. 7 first spherical.
“The kids played well,” mentioned Cohasset coach Pete Afanasiw. “We made a bunch of mistakes in the first half, but in that second half the offensive line opened up some really nice holes. The backs held onto the ball, which was nice, and we made some positive runs and stayed in front of the chains and grinded out some first downs.”
To begin the third, Cohasset (5-3) prolonged its result in 14-6 as a 12-play drive was capped by a 17-yard rating for senior captain Liam Appleton to make it 14-6.
Appleton wasn’t executed as he caught an enormous 36-yard go on third down on the subsequent Skippers’ drive after a 62-yard speeding rating for sophomore Zach Hurd knotted the rating 14-14. Two performs after his catch, junior Will Norgeot took a jet sweep in from seven yards as much as go up 21-14 with 1:58 left within the third.
On the following kickoff, senior Blaine Basile recovered the ball for Cohasset and the Skippers as soon as once more leaned on Appleton. On the eight-play, 33-yard drive, Appleton discovered halfback Will McLoughlin from 5 yards out to push the result in 29-14 with solely 10:18 left.
“He’s a generational type of player,” Afanasiw mentioned concerning the senior captain who had two scores and 102 whole yards. “He has a lot of tools at his disposal and I am very happy that he is on our team.”
Manchester-Essex (5-4) didn’t go quietly as Hurd discovered senior Preston Potter from 40 yards out to make it 29-20 after a failed two-point try.
The Skippers sealed it on the subsequent drive as sophomore Max Monahan (18 carries, 92 yards) scored from 17 yards out to place this one away at 35-20 with 5:23 to go.
The Hornets ate up 3:46 on the subsequent drive to make it a one possession recreation after an eight-yard speeding rating for senior Stephen Martin. Senior John Shannon recovered the onside kick try for Cohasset because the Skippers then ran the remainder of the clock out with a pair Appleton runs.
In the primary half, after a pair defensive stops, Cohasset lastly acquired some momentum occurring offense as sophomore Mike Wildfire hit junior Shane Mulcahy for a 40-yard go. Two runs later, sophomore Gus Greene (10 rush, 85 yards) ran it in from 17 yards out to make it a 6-0 Skippers lead after a failed go try on the two-point strive.
Cohasset’s offense practically acquired on the board once more, however Manchester-Essex recovered a fumble on the Hornets’ four-yard line. After three performs that went nowhere, the ball on the punt try was fumbled out of the endzone for a Cohasset security and an 8-0 lead for the Skippers with 3:30 left within the half.
Manchester-Essex’s protection got here up with a choose on the their very own 33 for Potter. After a loss on the primary play, Hurd hit junior Jarrett Croft for 22 yards and Potter for 44 extra to place the Hornets on the Skippers’ three-yard line. Hurd then stored it to chop the deficit to 8-6 proper earlier than the half after a failed two-point rush try.
Cohasset will host the winner of Mashpee and Blue Hills within the Div. 7 quarterfinals subsequent week.
Source: www.bostonherald.com