'This is all we want': West Boylston football beats Brighton to move on in state tournament

WEST BOYLSTON — Whether it was scoring touchdowns or eating pizza, Jamie McNamara didn’t waste any time Friday night.

The West Boylston senior captain scored on the first play from scrimmage and added another rushing touchdown less than five minutes later to help the top-seeded Lions run away with a 49-14 win over No. 16 Brighton in a Division 8 first-round playoff matchup.

And as quickly as he scored during the game, McNamara briskly scored himself a slice of pepperoni pizza following the contest.

“It tasted good,” McNamara said. “Especially after a big W for the boys.”

The taste of sweet victory.

West Boylston (9-0) inches closer to a return trip to Gillette Stadium — where the Lions won a Division 7 state championship last season — and will host either No. 8 Blackstone-Millville or No. 9 Nashoba Valley Tech in a quarterfinal next weekend.

“To get to Gillette (Stadium), it’s four games. It’s a hard trek, and every game is important, and you can’t look past anyone,” West Boylston coach Mike Ross said. “We've got three more games. As the games go on, they get more and more difficult. So we have some work to do.”

Setting the tone

With the ball on the Lions’ 24-yard line following the opening kickoff, West Boylston senior captain and quarterback Luke Foley noticed Brighton wasn’t prepared for its first play on defense.  

So Foley snapped the ball quickly and handed it off to McNamara, who rushed 76 yards up the right side for a touchdown just 26 seconds into the game.

“He set the tone well,” Foley said. “It was a big hole from the line, and he just shot right through, and he was gone.”

“Great start,” Ross added. “It takes a lot of pressure off, and you feel a little better when that happens.”

West Boylston’s defense and special teams happened to get off to a great start, too.

With the defense forcing a three-and-out on the Bengals’ first possession, West Boylston senior captain Jake O’Brien then rushed through a wall of Brighton blockers, lunged out with his left hand and blocked the punt before classmate Jon Ruas scooped up the football in the end zone for a touchdown.

A successful 2-point conversion run from Ruas made it 16-0 with 9:44 to play in the first quarter.

“That kind of changed the game,” Ross said. “That’s when momentum kind of turned.”

West Boylston proceeded to force another three-and-out (and punt from Brighton), before the Lions marched 66 yards down the field and took a 22-0 lead on a 1-yard TD run from McNamara.

Through nine games this season, McNamara has rushed for 10 TDs and over 600 rushing yards.

“He’s a great player,” Foley said. “He’s exactly what we are.”

West Boylston scored again, three minutes later, when Foley found junior Aidan Hamilton on an 18-yard pass play for a touchdown — Hamilton’s first TD in his 13 years of playing football — and it was 29-0. Then a fumble recovery from McNamara on defense and a 9-yard touchdown run from senior Jackson Caramanica with 2:44 left in the quarter forced running time on the scoreboard.

The last three quarters were all but a formality for the Lions.

“That’s just what happens when you’re a family,” McNamara said. “We have great team chemistry and putting in all the work during the week makes it easy to come out here and play football and succeed.”

One more home game for the Lions

Shortly after the Lions put the finishing touches on a 35-point win over Brighton on Friday, West Boylston coaches, fans and players stuck around Goodale Park for a postgame ceremony that celebrated the seniors on the cheerleading and football teams.

Each senior had their name called out over the loudspeaker and posed for pictures with family members (with one photo including a 6-year-old golden retriever named Quinn). Then, West Boylston assistant coach Andy Bouvier passed out pizza on the field.

McNamara was one of the first people to pounce on the dish — just like he did with a pigskin in his hands.

“Even better that we got the W,” he said. “On to next week.”

“It’s great to have another home game next week,” Foley added.

West Boylston's next playoff contest will mark the last home game for this group of seniors. But the hope is they’ll continue to play football this fall until they find their way to 1 Patriot Place in Foxborough.

“This is all we want,” O’Brien said. “I’ve played football with these kids for 10-plus years now, so this is my family, this is my team, so making another Super Bowl run, that’s been the goal from the start.”

— Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: West Boylston football beats Brighton in Division 8 first-round game