BROOKLINE – Some teams might falter after taking a shot to the mouth early.
Cheshire Academy decided to get right back up and keep fighting Saturday, and relied on Keegan Croucher to lead the charge. The Ole Miss commit finished 16-of-23 passing for 257 yards and a pair of touchdowns Saturday, as the Cats (7-3) rallied from an early deficit to capture the NEPSAC’s Danny Smith Bowl with a 31-20 win over Dexter Southfield (7-3).
“It’s massive,” Croucher said of the victory. “It’s crazy. It feels awesome. It was a huge turnout today with the crowd … so it feels good to bring it home.”
It was a rematch of a regular-season contest from Oct. 3, which Dexter Southfield won in a nail-biter (29-23).
This time around, Dexter Southfield had a great start. Michael Thomas returned the game’s opening kickoff 55 yards. A penalty at the end of the play set his team up in the red zone instantly. Just moments later, junior running back Lamarri Sanchez-Coleman plowed into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown rush, providing Dexter Southfield an immediate 6-0 advantage just 1:26 into play.
However, Cheshire Academy swung back with authority as the second quarter began. Croucher led his team downfield and fired a bullet toward the end zone. Aidan Good hauled in the pass for a 30-yard touchdown reception, as the Cats jumped in front 7-6 with 11:39 left in the frame.
“We don’t like to do anything easy,” said Cheshire Academy coach Bill Mella. “We like to do things the hard way. My team is very resilient. We expected it. We expected them to make plays. That’s a very, very talented team, and they played a tough (Class) A schedule this year. So we expected them to make plays. That’s just the kind of way we handle it. You make a play, we’re going to make more.”
The Cats did just that. Later on with 5:34 left in the second quarter, Croucher dumped a pass over the middle to Jojo Williams. The senior wideout knifed his way through traffic for a 20-yard touchdown reception, as Cheshire made it a 14-6 contest. The Cats would tack on to their lead with a 37-yard field goal by Nolan Pendergast, jumping ahead 17-6 at intermission.
As play resumed for the third quarter, Cheshire Academy picked up right where it left off. Michael Caulfield punched in a four-yard touchdown rush, as the Cats extended their lead to 24-6 with 7:19 left in the stanza.
Dexter Southfield responded with one of its best drives shortly afterward, as Sanchez-Coleman found the end zone for a second time with a four-yard touchdown run himself. Rory Funke added a two-point rush, slicing it to a 24-14 ballgame.
But just as the third quarter concluded, the Cats struck again. Jacob Marz finished things with a nine-yard touchdown scamper, as Cheshire took a 31-14 lead.
It was too much for Dexter Southfield to overcome. Funke would connect with Charlie Hanafin for a seven-yard touchdown pass to make it 31-20 with 7:33 remaining to cap the game’s scoring.
Dexter Southfield is slated to graduate 10 seniors, including Hanafin (a West Virginia commit) and Anthony Hall (UNC). Both standouts will be finishing heading off to their colleges early in January.
“Every season’s a little different,” said Dexter Southfield coach Casey Day. “Certainly with the move up to Class A this year, it was a lot different in particular than all of my other 15 years here at Dexter. We just talked quickly to our group, to the team, about the seniors leaving a legacy. Moving forward in Class A, I think the big thing is that we’ll look back on this season. How the seniors picked up on where the guys from the past have left off, and brought the program to a whole ‘nother level. Going to a Class A Bowl game, seven straight bowl games now. But obviously this one in particular, I don’t think a lot of people expected us to be here.”
