Both teams emerged from Week 3 with narrow wins
Last year, football teams West Boylston and Clinton High fought in an epic duel that hung in the balance until the last second.
When Mid-Wach D’s rivals clash on Friday night it could very well be similar as the Lions come into play 3-0 while the Gaels are 2-1. In fact, it seems that this game could make a big contribution to who wins the championship title.
Both West Boylston and Clinton come with exciting victories. The Lions earned a hard-fought 6-0 win over Valley Tech while the Gaels stopped a late 2-point conversion attempt to hold on to an exciting 34-33 win over Bay Path.
The Gaels allowed Bay Path to drive down for a TD before stuffing the fullback dive on the conversion attempt.
“We didn’t tackle well all night, but we did a good job on the conversion play,” Clinton coach said Justin Kugel said. “In my opinion, I thought they put on the right play because it worked all night. It was a huge stopover and I was looking forward to seeing the kids.”
When the Lions and Gaels meet, they will have a tough act ahead of them after last year’s back-and-forth game. West Boylston earned the win in the last minute when the hosts scored a 40-yard field goal Jamie McNamara to achieve a 38-35 win.
This time the Gaels get West Boylston on their home field.
“The two cities touch and it seems like everyone knows everyone in both cities,” said the West Boylston manager Mike Ross said. “It’s always a tough crowd when you play there.”
Both teams use multiple ball carriers. If West Boylston has the ball, Clinton will try to contain streakers Bobby Humphrey along with trying to contain McNamara, who currently leads the team in rushing yards (336) and touchdowns (five).
“The whole West Boylston team worries me,” Ball said. They come straight at you and are not afraid of anyone. If you make a mistake, you will capitalize on it.”
When the Gaels have the ball, the Lions need to keep a close eye on it Alex Chouinard and Axel Ramoswho rushed for 471 and 343 yards, respectively.
“They have three or four backs and a quarterback who can run the ball,” Ross said. “They’re big in the front. They have a lot to offer so we will have our hands full.”
Clinton hopes to come out on top at Homecoming Night as West Boylston tries to play festival spoiler
Ayer-Shirley’s Marshall has big night
With Ayer-Shirley for four years Cam Marshall played college football, so it’s not surprising that a night like Friday night happened.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder rushed for 212 yards on 17 carries and had five touchdowns. Marshall hit on touchdown runs for 40, 5, 18, 35, and 24 yards.
“As a coaching staff, we knew what we had in Cam (Marshall),” said coach Ayer-Shirley Billy Wright said. “The last two weeks we’ve been trying to throw the ball but we unleashed it on Friday night.”
Last year Marshall had over 20 touchdowns and after Friday night’s performance he has seven to three games.
“Cam (Marshall) hits the hole so hard and just explodes,” Wright said. “He’s the type of kid who’s able to hit top speed in three or four seconds.”
– Contact Chris Klingenberg at [email protected]
