Revenge game on tap for No. 1 seeded Bulldogs

By virtue of its perfect regular season record and the strength of its Hockomock League, the Canton High School football team was awarded the top overall seed in the Division 5 south playoffs and will open at home against No. 8 Scituate tomorrow night starting at 7 p.m.

Senior Jace Emma scored one of five Bulldog touchdowns last week. (D’jani Silva photo)

While the primary goal is to win and advance, the Bulldogs will get a chance to exact their revenge against the defending champion Sailors, who knocked Canton out of the postseason in last year’s sectional title game en route to winning the Super Bowl.

Scituate, who finished 12-1 last year, comes into the rematch at 4-3 and figures to be a decided underdog against a much improved Bulldog squad (7-0). The winner of Friday night’s game will advance to play the winner of No. 4 Foxboro versus No. 5 Norton in the sectional semifinals. The other half of the bracket features No. 2 Holliston against No. 7 Medfield and No. 3 Somerset Berkley versus No. 6 Hanover.

Traditional rival Stoughton (6-1), which Canton will see again on Thanksgiving Day, also made the playoffs as a No. 3 seed in Division 3 south and will square off against No. 6 Whitman-Hanson on Saturday at Xaverian Brothers High School. Other Hockomock League teams that earned a playoff berth include Franklin and Attleboro in D1 south, Mansfield and King Philip in D2 south, and Milford in D3 south.

While not the same team that rolled to the title last year, Scituate still boasts plenty of weapons, led by star running back Will Sheskey, who had 200 all-purpose yards against the Bulldogs and punctuated the season with a three-touchdown performance in the Super Bowl.

“They are a very good team and so are we,” said CHS head coach Dave Bohane. “We match up pretty well.”

In their final regular season tune-up last Friday at Sharon, the Bulldogs clinched the Hockomock Davenport Division title outright as they rolled to an easy 35-7 victory over the winless Eagles. Canton scored all five of its touchdowns in the opening quarter, which allowed Bohane to rest his starters and give each player who dressed a chance to play the remainder of the game.

Kyle Fitzgerald scored on runs of two and eight yards while quarterback Johnny Hagan, with hardly any pressure, connected on six of seven passes for 94 yards and two scores, including a 42-yard pass to David Allen and an 18-yard toss to Jace Emma.

Bohane said several players who do not regularly play varsity minutes made the most of their opportunities Friday night, further underscoring the team’s impressive depth. Among them was senior Nick Cushman, who recorded seven tackles and returned a fumble for a touchdown. Sophomore Cooper Peters and Bahsor Mahn added four tackles apiece while sophomore Colin Albert rushed for 20 yards and intercepted a pass on defense. Junior Michael Gunning recorded three sacks and sophomore Andrew Butler deflected three passes. Backup quarterbacks Robert Botelho and Charlie Cox both saw action in the game as well.

Bohane said he accomplished all of his objectives for the game, which included winning the Davenport Division outright, playing all of his players, and getting them ready for the start of the playoffs.

Senior captain and star linebacker James Murphy noted that it was the first undefeated regular season for Canton since 1987 and he credited his teammates for working hard in the offseason and the coaches for devising excellent game plans. “It’s a new season,” said Murphy. “It really doesn’t matter who we play. We will be ready for anyone.”

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Posted by Mike Berger on Nov 1 2019. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.