BRIDGEWATER – Bridgewater-Raynham was looking for a bounce-back game after a loss against Mansfield on a last-second field goal, and it had a chance in its home opener against Plymouth South.
In senior quarterback Jack Lambert’s last home opener as the starting QB for the Trojans, they broke through to claim a 21-14 victory over Plymouth South.
Plymouth South shut out Silver Lake 34-0 in its season opener.
Plymouth South (1-1) almost had a repeat of its season-opening game against Silver Lake after shutting out Bridgewater-Raynham in the first three quarters of the game, which came from strong red zone defense. Bridgewater-Raynham had three tries in the red zone in the first three quarters, with them failing via a turnover on downs, and then there were interceptions by Braxton Werner and Kyle Nguyen as the Panthers kept the shutout going.
Senior quarterback Timothy Durocher passed a 13-yard touchdown to senior tight end Benjamin Frechette in the first quarter, but the Trojans’ defense was able to keep it at a low score, partly in due to two interceptions on back-to-back drives by juniors Cam Knudsen and Drew Silva in the second quarter.
Everything clicked for the Trojan offense in the fourth quarter, especially for junior running back Breydan Lewis, who ran for two two-run rushing touchdowns, with the first tying the game. Quarterback Jack Lambert helped the Trojans take the lead on a 31-yard touchdown pass to senior captain Caiden Blake with under four minutes left. Lewis’s second touchdown came after a muffed kickoff by Plymouth South in which the Trojans’ special teams unit recovered.
However, Plymouth South struck back with Durocher’s second passing touchdown, which was a 25-yarder to Robert Anzalone to make it 21-14. However, the onside kick from Durocher was recovered by Knudsen, and then Lambert was able to seal it with the kneel down for the final seconds, as the Trojans got their first victory of the season.
Trojans head coach Elan Bain said focusing on their fundamentals was a key to victory.
“I think we just simplified some things, and we tried to get back to the fundamentals, running the football, being aggressive and athletic up front,” Bain said. “(Plymouth South) is a really good team. They had a shutout against a really good opponent.”
“We went into that locker room. We were down 7-0,” Lambert said of his team’s halftime adjustments. “Our coach came in, and he gave us an uplifting speech, that’s what we get from coach Bain. We get in the fourth quarter, and we know it’s time to work. I give it to my running back, he scored. I pass the ball, he scored. I trust my lineman, my defense, which came up multiple times in the fourth, and saved us this game.”
