Sports
Early must-win for AHS
![]() Kevin Deschenes' Blue Bombardiers look to stay undefeated with their home and OCL opener tonight. (Staff photo by TOM MAGUIRE)
Top Headlines With only four league games, every one takes on an added sense of importance. With this in mind the undefeated Attleboro Bombardiers play host to Bridgewater-Raynham tonight in their OCL opener. "It's a playoff atmosphere, you've got to go 4-0 in order to win the OCL," Attleboro coach Kevin Deschenes said. "We've got to win." The Bombardiers may get a bit of a home-field boost in tonight's matchup. After playing their first four games on the road, all victories, Attleboro returns home for the first time all season. "It's good to start playing home," Deschenes said. "It's a big league game, the kids are excited to play home in front of the hometown crowd." If the Bombardiers hope to improve their record to 5-0, they'll have to shut down a balanced Bridgewater-Raynham offense. "They're a Pro-I team," Deschenes said. "They're very talented and have a veteran offensive line. Their captain, (Bob) Cormier, is their anchor. They're physical and their skill positions are very good. Defensively, Cormier leads the Trojan defense from his linebacker position, the third year Cormier has started there. "He's the key," Deschenes said. "They're stingy on defense, based on ratings they're the number one defense in the league. We're going to have our hands full. Our offense has played very well so it should be a chess match." The teams have two common opponents this year. Both have beaten Durfee, Attleboro 40-7 and B-R 27-7, and both have defeated New Bedford, Attleboro 46-20 and B-R 28-6. While many are discussing the clash between Attleboro and Dartmouth possibly being for the OCL crown, Deschenes knows his team can't afford to look past anyone with such a short league schedule. "We just have to take care of our own business, look at one team at a time," he said. "Everything is going to run through Dartmouth but we can't look down the road. We just have to play one game at a time, that's our belief." Dighton-Rehoboth at Wareham Coach Dave Driscoll and the Dighton-Rehoboth football team will face an offense they haven't seen all year when they travel to Wareham tonight in hopes of escaping with their first win of the season. The Vikings run a double wing with no splits, an offense made popular by football powerhouse Everett. "It's very difficult to stop," Driscoll said. "They scored 38 points last week, we have to control that offense to have a chance to win, we have to be very physical on the line of scrimmage." The Falcons smaller defensive line (no one over 200 pounds) will have its hands full with the large Viking offensive line, which features players well over 200 pounds. "Hopefully with our quickness we'll be able to get in the gaps," Driscoll said. The game is D-R's third straight road game, and Driscoll is expecting a large crowd in Wareham tonight. "They have a great tradition down there," Driscoll said. "You know when you go down there that football means something to them, you love being in games like that." But what the Falcons would love even more is a victory. "We've had a good week of practice," Driscoll said. "It's a case of playing hard and maybe catching a break or two." Norton at Hopkinton Last week's victory over Dover-Sherborn came at a cost for Norton. Starting wide receiver Phil Rizzo injured his knee on a kickoff return and will be unavailable when Norton travels to Hopkinton tonight. Michael Rondina, who was carted off the field on a stretcher, will be unavailable as well, which is inconsequential compared to the news that he was released from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. While coach Robb McCoy knows his team will have big shoes to fill, he's confident in his team's depth. "Kids get hurt and other kids step up, that's what makes a team a team," he said. "We've got capable kids ready to step up." If the Lancers hope to stay unbeaten, they'll have to contain Hopkinton quarterback Jeff Doyle. "Their quarterback does all kind of stuff," McCoy said. "(A running quarterback is) certainly not a new thing for us, they just do it in so many different ways, in so many different formations and sets. We just need to be disciplined." Old Colony at Tri-County The game may not count in the Mayflower Small standings, but don't tell Dan MacLean and the Tri-County football game that their Saturday clash with Old Colony doesn't matter. The Cougars can get above .500 for the first time in McLean's tenure as coach and get closer to one of their goals, beating their win total from last year. Tri-County won three games last year, a number they can match on Saturday afternoon. The game comes on the heels of a big win for the program, a 20-14 overtime win over Southeastern last Saturday. "That was a big win for the program and for us," MacLean said. "My first two years we got pretty beat up by them." The Cougars pulled out the win despite committing six turnovers, a testament to the team's solid defensive play. "They were lights out," MacLean said. "My defense and my coaches did a great job preparing for that game. It showed a lot of heart. Usually when you have six turnovers you're not going to win a game like that. Old Colony has lost four games in a row, none particularly close, and will now have to deal with quarterback Lucas Mistler. "He's having a great year," MacLean said. "I hope he continues to do what he's been doing this year." Still, MacLean knows his team has to be careful of falling into a classic trap game. "This is a perfect time for a letdown," he said, "and we can't let that happen." Fairhaven at Seekonk It was a tough week of practice for Seekonk, coming off a heartbreaking 14-13 loss to league-favorite Apponequet. "That's what hurt the kids the most, that we were so, so close," said Seekonk coach Jack Whalen. But the Warriors are hoping to turn that disappointment into a victory this week against Fairhaven. "The three captains took it on themselves to get the rest of the team out of those doldrums," Whalen said. "We had a lot of energy at practice (on Wednesday). I think that we're ready. We have a good group of seniors that stepped up and got the team together." The matchup is a contrast of strengths, as Seekonk's features a stingy defense while Fairhaven features a defense that allows its fair share of points but an offense that can score with the best of them. "They're pretty much an option team, either out of the wishbone or a wider spread," Whalen said. "They're a lot like Bourne as far as offensive packages, so we had a little bit of a heads up having to prepare for Bourne and having to prepare for the same offense another time." The loss to Apponequet put the Warriors at a disadvantage in regards to winning the South Coast Conference title for the second consecutive year, but Whalen and company host Fairhaven this Friday in an attempt to prove last year's conference title was no fluke. "That's been our tagline all week, don't let down, don't let people around the area think it was a one-year wonder," Whalen said.
|