Week 9 Radar Recap

Connection difficulties delayed our posting, but here are how the games we had an especially close eye on panned out.

• #6 Methuen over Central Catholic - Yet another hard fought game win for the Rangers, who were able to ride the arm and legs of quarterback Cal Carroll to their eighth straight win.  Despite Cam Walsh racking up 87 yards and a score, Methuen did a great job bottling up the CC rushing attack.  Like many other Rangers victories this year, it took a near-perfect fourth quarter effort.  Both teams scored twice in the final frame, but it was Methuen's ability to take advantage of Central Catholic's mistakes (and not make any of their own) that turned out to be the deciding factor.
• #4 Xaverian over BC High - Incredibly convincing win for the Hawks.  They completely shut down an Eagles offense that came in scoring 26 points per game, and held Eagles' back Preston Cooper completely in check, something Everett and Brockton were not able to do.  The Hawks defense looked surprisingly fresh given the battle they had with St. John's Shrewsbury last weekend, and Chris Calvanese showed that he is the smoothest signal caller in the Catholic Conference.
• Bridgewater-Raynham over Barnstable - All is back to normal in the Old Colony League.  B-R was every bit as dominant as they have been in the past, putting the clamps on the Red Raiders offensive attack and letting their backfield go to work.  I wrote a few weeks back that you never bet against a Dan Buron-coached team, and since then they have beaten Xaverian, pushed their win streak to four games, and locked up the OCL.  And with a Thanksgiving match-up with Brockton looming, this team will be ten times more tested than last years version come playoff time. 
• Cardinal Spellman over Austin Prep - The Cardinal Spellman defense was going to be the key, and sure enough, it pitched a shutout to put them in the drivers seat in the Catholic Central Large.  Blaise Branch has been sensational this year; he found the end zone twice yesterday to run his season total to 25.  The blanking of Prep pushes the Cardinals season total to four, good for best in Division 3A.
• Dennis-Yarmouth over Falmouth - This was an absolute blowout, and perhaps the most telling loss for Falmouth thus far.  D-Y had their way on the ground and through the air, and the Falmouth offense was shut out, with their point total during their three game losing streak 13.  For Dennis-Yarmouth, this win shows that their defense is a heck of a lot better than it seemed at the beginning of the year.  They've got a tough one against Plymouth North this weekend, but the Dolphins appear to be perhaps the strongest team in the Atlantic Coast.