BOSTON – The Plymouth North and Plymouth South rivalry stretches almost 30 years, but it will be tough to find a better game and backdrop than the Battle for the Rock in 2025.
Senior quarterback Timmy Durocher scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime to lift Plymouth South (7-4) to the 27-21 victory over Plymouth North (5-6), all the time in the shadows of the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
Durocher, a dual-threat quarterback, finished with 177 all-purpose yards along with all four touchdowns in the game, while fellow senior Max Arnold led the Panthers with 130 yards rushing on 19 carries.
While the Panthers are 1-0 in the rivalry on the grass at Fenway Park, the series now stands 19-10 in favor of the Eagles.
The Thanksgiving tilt was the final time Durocher will ever wear the pads as he has enlisted in the Army after high school. The surreal moment of scoring the final touchdown, in his final game, as the game-winner in overtime for the Panther does not escape the senior captain.
“Until now, I would not say I was a true dual threat, but I made some passes that you can now chalk me down as a true dual threat. I’m just proud of myself and teammates for getting my back when things were a bit going our way,” Durocher said. “We knew the crowd was going to be amazing, we knew the field was going to be great. This is just an amazing feeling to be out here. Oh yeah, we finally got our tenth win against them – we are in double digits now.”
The Panthers were poised to win from the start with a 13-play drive that ate up the first 7:28 of the first quarter. Durocher tossed his lone touchdown pass off a play-action rollout for six yards to Max Cherry for the 6-0 lead.
But two Plymouth South turnovers turned into scores for the Eagles in the first half as Oliver Enokian recovered a fumble and Liam Joyce stripped a ball off a reception to set up two of Gio Lynch-Ruberio’s three rushing touchdowns in the game, and the Eagles led 14-6 at the half.
“I told the kids at halftime that there is a lot of football left. This team has fought through games all year. We were in similar situations in other games,” said Panthers head coach Darren Fruzzetti. “I told the kids we were going to go out, get a stop on defense, come back, score, go for two, and they made me look like a prophet.”
The Panthers soaked in the halftime speech and forced the Eagles into a three-and-out with their first series of the second half. Even better, the Panthers went on an 11-play drive as Durocher took the quarterback dive for a one-yard score and capped it off with a reverse two-point conversion. Durocher handed off to Chase Makris, who flipped the reverse to Arnold, who hit Durocher in the end zone wide open to tie things 14-14 with 3:50 left in the third.
“I’m just proud of the guys for sticking through everything. We were down at halftime, but we told ourselves that we would keep fighting no matter what; we were going to play to the final whistle,” said Arnold.
With the score tied 14-14, Durocher scored his third touchdown of the game on a 15-yard sweep to the pylon at 9:21 of the fourth quarter.
But Gio Lynch-Ruberio was matching Durocher score-for-score as the Eagles running back did all he could to keep the Eagles close with his third touchdown of the game after the squads exchanged possessions in the final quarter.
On the first play from scrimmage, Lynch-Ruberio, who played for the Panthers before transferring to the rival Eagles, scored on an electric 77-yard scamper to the house with 4:51 left in regulation. Trey Thatcher split the uprights for the third time for the Eagles to tie things up 21-21.
After the Panthers punted on their next series, Plymouth North had a shot to win in regulation with 1:18 left on the clock, but credit defensive back Caedon Aldridge with a touchdown-saving and game-saving breakup for the Panthers on a beautiful pass down the left sideline from Eagles quarterback John Turchinetz, who finished 12-of-19 for 134 yards.
Lynch-Ruberio finished with a game-high 160 yards on only 15 carries, but it was Durocher who finished the final chapter of his remarkable season and career, scoring all four touchdowns and the two-point conversion to account for 26 of the 27 Panthers’ points.
“Going downhill like that (on the final touchdown), there was nothing that was going to bring me down on that last play. I was not coming down for anything,” said Durocher, who broke two tackles to spin into the end zone for the final score.
“I wanted to prove to myself, my family, to my country that I can do more than just sit around and do nothing. So, I wanted to be able to put my best foot forward and help protect the people around here,” said Durocher, who has yet to be informed of his destination.
“I’m grateful for everything I’ve been given through this program and this team. I am so happy to be able to go out on top with my brothers.”
