Clicking on all cylinders: Duxbury's defense blankets Somerset Berkley in Div. 4 Elite 8
DUXBURY — Alex Barlow has one thing on his mind these days — reaching the Super Bowl for the third straight season.
In Friday's Division 4 Elite 8 contest against No. 8 Somerset Berkley, No. 1 and defending state champion Duxbury was clicking on all cylinders inside Raymond P. Chandler Memorial Field.
"It's just another game to us," Barlow said following the Dragons' 31-0 shutout win over the Raiders. "We still have to end this strong. But we had a great week of practice and we knew [Somerset] was going to be a physical team. We knew we had to come in here firing. We played well and played hard."
With the victory, Duxbury (7-1) moves on to face Tewksbury Memorial in the Final Four.
"It feels great and I'm just really happy with the effort the kids put in all week," Dragons head coach Matt Landolfi said. "Hopefully, we can continue with that effort moving forward next week. We'll take it one practice at a time and one game at a time. Let's see where it takes us."
SBR (7-3), which averages 31 points per game through nine contests, could not get on track. Led by Barlow, Duxbury's defense held the Raiders to a season-low 139 yards of offense, including just nine yards of rushing in the first half.
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"Hey, [Duxbury] were tough but we wanted to play the best," SBR head coach Nick Freitas said. "We couldn't get offense going. I was surprised about their defense. I thought we did a pretty good job playing teams this year and getting the ball rolling. They did a good job and they have a combination of speed and size.
"It was one of those games that doesn't go our way. I thought defensively we played well. I was proud of that effort and the total team effort."
The Raiders made a statement early in the game, holding the Dragons to just a 27-yard field goal by Gavin Hammond after a 12-play drive. Moments later, SBR had the game's first turnover on a fumble recovery by Kyle McKinnon. That's when Duxbury woke up.
Quarterback Trevor Jones (17-of-27 for 256 yards) connected with Adam Barr for a 31-yard touchdown as time expired in the first quarter to give Duxbury a 10-0 lead. After a three-and-out, Jones took advantage of a short field and found Sam Wien for a 30-yard touchdown to increase the Dragons' lead to 17-0.
Another short field for Dragons after the Raiders failed to convert a fourth-down play, Barlow (12 carries for 95 yards) raced untouched for 20 yards to give the hosts a 24-0 with 5:49 remaining. Barlow later added a 15-yard touchdown in the third quarter to make the score 31-0.
"Those always feel good," Barlow said about his touchdowns. "I had a fumble in the beginning so I had to make up for that."
With the teams exchanging hand skakes after the game, Barlow and two of his teammates went to the Raider bench to show sportsmanship to injured SBR player Will Santos, who left the game late and was getting taped up.
"Our kids will do that," Landolfi said. "They're great players out there but they're also better people."
NOTES: Zach Falls was Jones' favorite target on the night with seven receptions. Barr finished the night with four catches while Wein had three grabs. Rob Heppenstall also collected two interceptions for Duxbury. Brendan McDonald played great defense for the Raiders.
Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette sports editor Steven Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@heraldnews.com. You can follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @Chezsports.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Duxbury football defeats Somerset Berkley in Division 4 quarterfinal
