WESTWOOD — When chasing an ideal season, typically a staff has to dig deep when it issues most.
Tri-County did simply that Thursday evening and relied on its stars to take action. Senior quarterback Declan Walker accomplished 11-of-17 passes for 215 yards and a pair of touchdowns, whereas junior Swiss-Military knife Nick O’Brien completed with three complete touchdowns because the Cougars (7-0) staged an epic rally to knock off South Shore Voke, 29-16.
“Actually, I feel it was nearly weathering the storm,” Walker mentioned. “Broke them down. They is likely to be sturdy, however we all know we’re stronger. We all know we are able to go on the market and play 4 quarters of soccer, and I feel that’s one thing that not numerous soccer groups can do.”
The Mayflower Athletic Convention bout was held at Xaverian Brothers Excessive College, which has served as Tri-County’s dwelling venue all season whereas its personal services in Franklin endure renovations. It was additionally the Cougars’ Senior Evening, offering an intimidating ambiance.
Within the early phases of the sport, it appeared Tri-County was set to coast. After Walker linked with Chris Pinto on a 47-yard cross to set the Cougars up within the pink zone, O’Brien dove throughout the aim line on the following play for a one-yard landing rush, as Tri-County seized a 7-0 lead with 8:39 left within the first quarter.
Nevertheless, South Shore Tech (3-3) would reply within the late phases of the half. Using a drive that started late within the opening body and spanned effectively into the second, the Vikings punched again as Dillon O’Brien capped issues with a one-yard landing scamper on fourth down. Jayden Fraser added a two-point rush, giving his staff an 8-7 edge at intermission.
As soon as the third quarter obtained underway, South Shore Tech continued to pound the rock on the bottom. Dealing with fourth-and-short at midfield, the Vikings tried one other fast toss to O’Brien. The sophomore sprinted up the sideline for a 50-yard landing rush. After being held with out a cross try within the first half, Vikings senior quarterback Ryan Holmes fired a two-point conversion shot to O’Brien, as South Shore Voke made it a 16-7 ballgame with 6:41 to go within the stanza.
Together with his staff trailing by two scores to open the fourth, Tri-County coach Andy Gomes known as a timeout.
“We checked out one another, and we’re like: ‘Hey, I consider in you. I do know we are able to do that. We simply have to complete the job.’ All people at that time took a collective sigh of reduction. At that time, we couldn’t play a lot worse, so the one solution to go was up,” Gomes mentioned.
Then the Cougars flipped a swap. With precisely 11 minutes remaining, Walker dumped a display cross off to O’Brien. The sophomore slipped previous a tackler, then took off for a 51-yard landing reception to slice the deficit to 16-13.
Moments later, O’Brien got here away with an interception and the Cougars started marching proper again up the sphere. The sophomore capped one other drive with a two-yard landing rush, then hauled in a two-point cross from Walker. Abruptly, Tri-County led 22-16 with 4:53 to play.
With the sport on the road, Tri-County compelled a turnover on downs with just below two minutes to play. Walker linked with Jordan Pedro for a 12-yard landing cross with 24 seconds left for good measure, sealing the deal for the Cougars.
Walker added 81 yards speeding for Tri-County, whereas O’Brien had 65 yards receiving.
“I didn’t need to lose this recreation for the seniors,” O’Brien mentioned. “For my staff, I knew this was a giant recreation. We had been 6-0 coming in. That is everyone’s Tremendous Bowl recreation. We wished to go 7-0. I got here out and obtained the efficiency I wanted right now.”
