Two seasons ago, Old Rochester Regional football came up short in the MIAA South Division 6 finals, losing 30-21 to Middleboro. In 2018, the Bulldogs made it back to the title game, knocked off Ashland 28-6 and, after a bye week, had a shot at the ultimate title: MIAA Division 6 Super Bowl champions.
For the third year in a row, ORR is playing in the MIAA South Division 6 finals. The Bulldogs defeated No. 8 Norwell 22-15 in the South Sectional semi-finals to get there.
As he has throughout much of the season, Jackson Cote paced the ORR offense on the ground. The running back scored the final Bulldogs touchdown – the game-winner – and finished with 117 yards on 25 rushes (4.68 yards per carry).
Ryon Thomas continues to take advantage of his limited throwing opportunities. In the win over Norwell, he completed four of his six attempts to finish with 115 yards. Three of his completions went to Tommy Durocher, one of those being a 44-yard touchdown.
Cam Brezinski also scored once for the Bulldogs, and Dylan DeWolfe forced a safety on defense.
ORR will now face the same team they beat last season in the South Sectional finals: No. 3 Ashland.
Ashland is only remaining team from the group that entered the tournament undefeated, with No. 1 Cardinal Spellman and No. 2 Rockland being the others. Cardinal Spellman was upset by Norwell in the opening round and Rockland lost 33-16 to Ashland.
The game will be at Ashland High School on Friday at 7:00 pm.
Over to Cross Country, Alex Craig finished second overall for ORR at the Div. 4 Eastern Cross Country Championship and has earned a place in the Div. 2 All-State Championship on Saturday. He ran the race in 16:13.53, trailing the leader by 16 seconds.
ORR girls soccer came close at a perfect season, but finished just shy of the mark. After winning all 20 of their regular season games, the Bulldogs won their first-round matchup against No. 17 Hopkinton 3-1. But No. 1 Old Rochester’s run would come to an in the MIAA Div. 2 South Sectional quarter finals. No. 8 Medway worked its way to a 2-1 win. Medway also won in the semi-finals and is set to face No. 2 Holliston in the finals.
Meg Hughes scored ORR’s lone goal in the loss to Medway. It came in the first two minutes of the game.
Maddie Wright scored twice in ORR’s win over Hopkinton and assisted Jenn Williams’ goal.
Old Colony
Old Colony football’s playoff push ended sooner than the Cougars would’ve liked. After earning a 22-21 win against a familiar foe in No. 7 Upper Cape in the opening round of the Div. 8 South Sectional tournament, the second-ranked Cougars had to get through the one team that beat them in the regular season: No. 3 South Shore.
In their prior matchup, South Shore scored 14 points. They did so again in the South Sectional semi-finals, and, once again, the Cougars could not get past the Vikings, losing 14-8.
Blake Dennison scored Old Colony’s lone touchdown on a 22-yard rush. He had 62 yards on 15 carries.
High School Sports Update
By Nick Friar