EAST BRIDGEWATER- Despite rainy conditions, Abington cruised to a 20-0 victory over East Bridgewater Thursday night to conclude the regular season.
Abington (7-1) clinched at least a share of the South Shore League Sullivan division title after their 32-7 victory over Rockland in Week 8 on Thursday. With the win over East Bridgewater, the Green Wave officially clinched the title outright.
“Every game was a test, Rockland was a test, and East Bridgewater was certainly a test,” Abington head coach Ed Reilly said of league play. “They’ve got a lot of talented kids over there. So, we were happy to get out there with a win, no matter what happened.”
Abington scored on its opening drive, which included a 22-yard pass to Liam Ward on the right side of the field to convert on 4th and 13. Ryan Solimini then ran it for eight yards to make it 4th and 2, and then Lee Spry helped the Green Wave get another 4th down conversion on a five-yard rush up the middle. After this, Daniel Pifer scored on a 10-yard run after he found a hole. Abington was unable to convert the two-point attempt.
The Vikings would enter Green Wave territory on their first drive, but would see the drive stall out from there. Abington would punt on its ensuing drive, and the Vikings responded by driving to the Green Wave red zone. However, an interception by Lee Spry in the end zone ended the threat.
Abington was unable to capitalize and entered halftime with a 6-0 lead.
East Bridgewater started the second half with a three-and-out and the Green Wave responded when Spry sprawled out for a 39-yard run before Solimini finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown run. After a failed two-point conversion. Abington led 12-0.
Great defensive play from the Green Wave secondary forced two consecutive turnovers on downs for East Bridgewater The final score of the day came from senior Nick Vachon on a 3-yard run, and then the two-pointer was ultimately converted after a pass from Jack Reilly to Kingston Maxwell.
Despite the victory, Ed Reilly said there were plenty of things the team needs to improve on to sustain a playoff run.
“A wise man once said, There’s no such thing as bad weather, just weak people, so these kids play through bad weather,” Coach Reilly said, “We did have a lot of mistakes, which sometimes you can understand with the weather. But, we got to clean that stuff up. Too many penalties, bad snaps, mistakes we haven’t been making all year. So, it certainly wasn’t a clean game for us.”
