NORTON - As much as Sean Ryan has meant, and continues to mean, to the Norton High School football team as its lead running back, Friday night was a good time to remember that there are a host of other young athletes who have helped bring the Lancers to the front step of greatness this season.

Friday night was a night for the Norton defense to take a bow.

Four interceptions (by Steve Gilmore, Grover Welch, Brian Desmond and Ryan), one thunderous forced fumble by Ricky Travers and recovery by Darren Doucette, and a stifling run defense that allowed Medway's talented backs only 2.5 yards per carry, were the elements that led Norton (9-1, 7-1) to a 16-7 victory over the previously unbeaten Mustangs (9-1, 7-1) before an overflow crowd at Adams Field.

The victory puts Norton in the driver's seat for the MIAA Eastern Mass. Division 3 playoff berth from the Tri-Valley League. A win over Bellingham on Thanksgiving Day will seal the deal for the Lancers, who haven't been in the playoffs since Raymond Berry was coach of the Patriots.

Norton coach Robb McCoy said the roots of success Friday night could be found in his days on the Bishop Feehan coaching staff. "We faced a lot of Wing-T teams when I was coaching at Bishop Feehan," he said, "and we'd sit around in the summertime trying to come up with a defense. We just kept troubleshooting everything, and I sort of dusted it off this week."

The key was holding junior running back Ted Davenport to just 26 yards on 12 carries, and also putting the clamps on the counters run by seniors Tyler Iarussi (five for minus-4) and Jake Tucci (3-13). That forced junior quarterback John Giacobbe to pass more than he might have liked - and while he found seven different receivers for his eight completions and 93 yards, he also found four more "receivers" in black-and-purple Norton uniforms to thoroughly undermine whatever success the Mustangs might have had in moving the ball.

Medway wasn't shabby defensively, either. The Mustangs "held" Ryan to 98 gritty yards on 27 carries, but surrendering field position on the interceptions blunted that defensive effort.

"That's a great football team, they're as tough as nails," McCoy said, "We were struggling to try to get something going offensively, but the way our defense was playing, it kept us in the game."

The first interception was by Gilmore with 5:08 left in the opening quarter, and his return from the Medway 36 to the 15 set up a golden opportunity to seize the momentum. That's exactly what the Lancers did four plays later, on a 4-yard sweep by Ryan with 3:32 left in the opening quarter.

But on Norton's next possession, a fourth-and-6 offsides penalty against Medway led McCoy to opt for a running play on fourth-and-1 - and Medway's Jeff Claffey sniffed it out, dropping Ryan for a loss of 3 yards to the Norton 42 and turning the ball over on downs.

It took 10 plays for Medway to even the score, including an 18-yard sweep by Tucci on fourth-and-7 to bring the Mustangs down to the Norton 8. Three plays later, Giacobbe tossed a look-in pass to Alex Lee from 5 yards out and Joey Davenport added the kick for a 7-7 tie with 6:45 left in the half.

Norton would not get another first down for the rest of the half, but a tipped pass turned into an interception for Welch, a senior defensive tackle, to give the Lancers the ball at the Medway 22 with 18 seconds left. After two incomplete passes, the call went to Travers with five seconds left, and he boomed a 39-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired.

"The kids, at halftime, were up big-time," McCoy said. "Ricky's a great kicker. We haven't had to kick any field goals, this was an opportunity and he nailed it."

The momentum shift continued into Medway's opening possession of the second half. On third-and-4 from the Mustangs' 38, Giacobbe faded back to pass and suddenly found Travers lining him up in his sights. The quarterback backpedaled frantically before Travers leveled him, knocking the ball free at the end of a 13-yard sack, and Doucette's recovery at the Medway 25 presented another opportunity to the Lancers. With the help of an end-around of 9 yards by Desmond, it took three straight "red zone" carries by Ryan of 8, 8 and 1 yards, the latter for a 16-7 lead with 6:17 left in the third quarter. It was Ryan's 32nd touchdown of this magical season.

From there, it was a matter of keeping it a two-possession game, and Desmond's interception accomplished that. On the third play of the fourth quarter, with Medway knocking on the door at the Lancer 15, the senior safety pulled down his pick at the 3-yard-line to preserve some breathing room.

Then, with 4:10 left, Ryan grabbed his interception on the first play of a Medway drive, allowing the Lancers to add to their 6:35-4:25 possession advantage in the final quarter. Sacks by Josh Archer and Doucette made certain that Medway didn't mount a scoring drive on its last possession.

McCoy credited outside linebackers Ricky Robichaud and Phil Rizzo with outstanding efforts in containment, and said the Lancers did a good job of executing pass-defense adjustments when it became certain the Mustangs were going to have to abandon the run (only eight second-half carries).

"I felt very confident that we could shut their run down," McCoy said. "With what we were doing and how we were moving, I felt really good that we could force on the edge."

And now, if the Lancers can just take care of business on the holiday, a chance of a lifetime awaits.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.