The Scituate Sailors traveled to Hingham High School for their final four matchup against the Duxbury Dragons with one mission in mind as they looked to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl: winning. This longtime rivalry adds even more intensity to an already high-stakes semifinal, especially after Scituate beat them in their meeting earlier this season. All eyes are on junior running back Grayson Foley, who has been the focus of attention throughout the playoffs.
The Sailors opened up the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown rush by Foley, followed by a PAT (point after touchdown), making it 7-0. However, the Dragons answered right back, with senior quarterback Brady Rhinesmith throwing a touchdown pass, evening the score at 7-7.
The Dragons kept the momentum rolling, as they put in six from a run by senior running back Ian McNeil, giving them the lead at 14-7 after the extra point. Scituate was not going down without a fight, though, as they were able to score from 52 yards out on a reception from sophomore wide receiver Tyler Stelljes, tying the score at 14-14. The Dragon’s defense could not stop the passing attack, as the Sailors ran a trick play, where senior quarterback and captain Jonny Donovan threw a backwards pass to Stelljes, who then threw a deep ball to senior wide receiver Miller Shea for a touchdown score. This put the Sailors up 21-14. Duxbury, though, evened the score once again before the half, as they were able to put the ball into the end zone on a Rhinesmith touchdown pass from 30 yards out with six seconds remaining in the half, making it 21-21.
After a very physical back-and-forth third quarter, the Sailors finally struck back at the end of the third quarter with a 96-yard dot from Donovan to Stelljes, putting the Sailors up 28-21. The Dragons never ended up answering, and with a minute left to go in the fourth quarter, Foley fully put the Dragons to sleep with a rushing touchdown from five yards out, finalizing the score at 34-21 and sending the Sailors to their third straight Super Bowl.
Notable performers for the game included Donovan, who was 4/9 on completions for 177 passing yards and two passing touchdowns; Foley, who carried the ball 28 times for 137 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns; and Stelljes, who had three catches for 157 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns, along with his 52-yard passing touchdown to Shea.
After the game, senior cornerback James Trombly talked about playing against Duxbury and the game as a whole, stating, “It’s not really a rivalry anymore–We own them, and we overpowered them.” Foley also commented, “That was such a physical team, but this team has so much heart, and we just had to power through to get the win.” The Sailors’ next game is against Hingham on Thanksgiving (10:00 AM in Hingham), but all eyes will be on their Super Bowl matchup at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, December 6, at 12:45 PM, against the number two-seeded Tewksbury.