Biggest win in 20-plus years: Carver High football dethrones Cohasset in overtime thriller
CARVER − Head coach Ben Shuffain sized it up as his program's biggest win since its EMass Division 4 Super Bowl appearance against Fairhaven in 2000.
“There hasn’t been a bigger win,” Shuffain said.
Given the fashion it was clinched, it will surely be a day remembered with staying power for his much-improved group of Crusaders (5-0).
Senior quarterback Tyler Lennox hurled one of his three touchdown passes to senior Robbie Peterson for a 10-yard walk-off score as the undefeated Crusaders erased a 15-point deficit to start the fourth quarter and outlast league rival Cohasset, 42-39, in overtime Friday.
“This team just has it," Shuffain said. "They have the character. They have the tenacity. They fought through adversity today, and we hadn’t seen that the first four weeks. We saw it today. I think the sky’s the limit for the rest of the season. … It doesn’t get easy, but this is going to put us over the top. Doing this today was huge for this program and this town.”
Carver trailed 36-21 at the end of the third quarter, but on the first play of the fourth, Lennox hit senior Derek Lopes for a 24-yard highlight grab in the back of the end zone. The Crusaders defense forced a punt on the ensuing Cohasset drive, and Lennox targeted Lopes again for a 39-yard gain up the seam. The very next play, Lennox found Peterson in the end zone for a 29-yard score to tie things 36-36 with 6:23 to play, as Lopes reeled in a fortuitous catch on the successful 2-point conversion.
Lennox finished with five total touchdowns − two rushing, three passing − as the senior signal caller padded his school-record marks of 48 career touchdowns and 4,561 passing yards.
More: FOLLOW LIVE: Week 5 South Shore high school football scores and highlights
“He’s the man. If there’s a better quarterback on the South Shore, I don’t want him. (Lennox) is my guy," Shuffain said. "I don’t want anybody else playing for me but him. There’s nobody better.”
“We just came out here and battled," Lennox said. "That’s a great program over there. We knew whoever won this probably had a great shot at the league title. It feels great to get this win.”
The win plots Carver for its first winning season since 2015, when it finished 6-5. The Crusaders offense has averaged 47.2 points per game through the first five weeks, with the high-mark of 55 set against McCann Technical on Sept. 23 and arguably the most impressive showing of 42 in its biggest test against Cohasset on Friday.
More: Carver High football is on pace to end a 23-year playoff drought. Here's why
“We’ve got some grit,” Lennox said. “We’re a different team this year. We knew we were going to battle, and we did. That was a great game.”
In the loss, Cohasset senior Liam Appleton scored a pair of rushing touchdowns from 1 yard out and sophomore quarterback Mike Wildfire completed three TD passes − a 31-yard TD to junior receiver Will McLoughlin, and two to junior receiver Will Norgeot from 18 and 52 yards out.
"We're 5-0. We're going to enjoy this one for the weekend. Then, quick turnaround. We've got Randolph on Thursday (on the road at 6:30). But we beat Cohasset. They put 40 on us last year (a 48-14 loss), almost did it again today, but we ended up coming out on the other side this time."
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Carver football defeats Cohasset in biggest win since this century
