By Bill Sones — Sports Contributor
The No. 14 CCHS Patriots (4-3 overall, 3-2 DCL) traveled to the South Shore to take on the No. 3 Marshfield Rams (8-1) in a first-round MIAA Division 2 playoff game. The Rams came out with a resounding 43-7 win in the November 8 showdown.
The Rams got a quick start and were up 14-0 early in the first, 21-0 after a quarter, and 43-0 at the half. But the Patriots persisted and worked hard the entire game. Several players made valiant stops on defense, including seniors Taylor Ladd and Ndungo Muirruri; juniors Sam Beal, Declan MacQueen, and Lewis Simon; and sophomores Aiden Bayes, Kenji Ma, and A.J. Valentine. Senior Matthew Carleton had several hard-fought runs and outstanding punts all evening long.
The Rams took their foot off the pedal in the second half, and Patriots defenders shut Marshfield out the rest of the way. The CC offense got a fourth-quarter 32-yard scamper by senior Connor Sones to make the final 43-7 after Ladd’s extra point kick.
Despite being outgunned, the Patriots fought hard and Coach Josh Reed and the staff devised a game plan to best protect the team in a tough situation.
In the last two years, the MIAA has changed both its divisional alignment and playoff structure. The playoffs now include four rounds of 16 games in each division.
CCHS, formerly a Division 3 school, has moved up to Division 2. The new designations are based on enrollment levels, not the strength and size of the programs. As such, CCHS faced larger teams than it had in prior years.
The Patriots look for a win at the seniors’ last home game on November 15 at 7 p.m.
