Fourth-seeded Duxbury football blanked No. 13 Nashoba, 35-0, on Thursday to advance to the Division 4 quarterfinals.
“It’s win or go home, so we gave it everything we had,” said Duxbury senior defensive lineman Colin Murray after his team improved to 7-1. “We prepared like it’s the state championship.”
Sophomore quarterback Liam Murray threw for two touchdowns — 6 yards to Cole Michelson and 64-yards to Lachlan O’Reilly-Lacks — and rushed for a 9-yard score.
Everett Pang added a pair of 3-yard rushing TDs as the Dragons built a 21-0 halftime edge and cruised from there. Joey Day was perfect on extra points, and Alec Wood, Murray, and Michelson anchored a strong defensive effort.
“You could see they had a tough time moving the ball all game,” said Duxbury coach Matt Landolfi. “We really took away what they wanted to do, so I’m proud of the defense.”
The Dragons will face the winner of Friday’s matchup between No. 5 Walpole and No. 12 Westfield. Nashoba (7-2) will play a non-playoff game vs. an opponent TBD.
Scituate 21, Ashland 0 — Senior Grayson Foley churned out 200 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries and nabbed an interception for the top-seeded Sailors (9-0) in a first-round win over No. 16 Ashland (3-6).
Division 1
St. John’s (Shrewsbury) 58, Brockton 18 — Brad Perry fired four touchdown passes, including a pair to Zacchaeus Collins, leading the No. 2 Pioneers (8-1) to the program’s first playoff win since 2021.
St. John’s Prep 35, Weymouth 6 — The top-seeded Eagles wasted little time, as junior quarterback Chris Vargas (11-of-14, 171 yards, 3 TDs) found sophomore receiver Will Codreanu for a 51-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, setting the tone in a first-round win. Riley Selvais caught five balls for 42 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
Division 2
Bridgewater-Raynham 48, Waltham 7 — Breydan Lewis rushed for a pair of scores and Cam Knudsen returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown to spark the No. 2 Trojans (6-2) to a first-round victory.
Division 3
Mansfield 28, Malden Catholic 14 — Gio Scarpellini connected with Darian Sanders (3 TDs) twice through the air and returned an interception 25 yards as the top-seeded Hornets (8-1) upended No. 16 Malden Catholic (4-5) for a first-round win.
Milford 41, Masconomet 12 — The No. 2 Scarlet Hawks (8-1) rolled to a big first-round win with 410 rushing yards, led by Wanderson Dos Santos (19 carries, 284 yards, 4 TDs), Eli Rosenberg (10 carries, 97 yards, TD), and Cam Zicherman (4 carries, 46 yards, TD). Rosenberg and Jaxson Fennimore pocketed interceptions to spearhead the defense.
North Attleborough 42, Plymouth South 0 — Joseph Ruggiero (12 carries, 78 yards) rumbled for a pair of short touchdowns and Nick O’Brien rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown, adding an 80-yard scoop and score to lift the No. 6 Red Rocketeers (6-2) past the No. 11 Panthers (3-6) in the first round.
Division 5
Foxborough 42, Apponequet 7 — Jack Taft scored two touchdowns on the ground, including a 77-yarder on the first play from scrimmage, and Kam Rice caught two more as the No. 7 Warriors (5-4) rolled past the No. 10 Lakers (8-1) in a first-round matchup.
Norton 22, Medfield 20 — In the waning seconds of a first-round showdown against a Tri-Valley League rival, Andrew Bernstein dropped the ball. Norton’s standout receiver nearly caught what would’ve been the go-ahead touchdown in a 20-19 contest, but the senior got an immediate shot at redemption when his coach called for a 41-yard field goal.
Since Norton had a standout kicker last year in Andrew Strojny (now at New Haven), Bernstein had actually never lined up for a field goal in a varsity game, yet Norton coach Jim Artz believed in his process, and said Bernstein’s go-ahead boot with 38 seconds remaining may have been good from 60 yards.
“We didn’t panic,” said Artz. “We work on situational football before every game and we worked the clock really well at the end.”
After a failed 2-point conversion with just under three minutes remaining, the No. 6 Lancers (8-1) pinned Medfield (7-2) deep and forced a punt. Bernstein provided an elusive return to get into enemy territory, setting up more late-game dramatics.
Jacoby Flynn passed for 110 yards with an early touchdown to Nate Kristiansen and a 24-yard strike to Brayden Salvo in the fourth quarter. Carson Wilbur added 50 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Medfield linebacker Noah Smith came up with a 27-yard pick-6 in the second quarter.
Division 6
Abington 46, Wilmington 28 — Jack Reilly tossed four touchdown passes to to power the No. 3 Green Wave (7-2) to a first-round win over No. 14 Wilmington (3-6).
“The offensive line did a great job upfront,” said Reilly.
After a Naz Paulding 18-yard touchdown run on the opening series, Nick Johnson’s interception set up Ben Ward for a 12-yard touchdown run. Abington never trailed in this first-round matchup after jumping out to a quick 13-0 lead in the first quarter.
“That interception was big momentum,” said Abington coach coach Ed Reilly.
Jack Reilly threw TD passes to Ben Ward for 58 yards, Naz Paulding for 22 yards and Nick Johnson caught scores of 2 and 32 yards.
“We have a bunch of playmakers and tonight they came through for us,” said Ed Reilly.
Abington will take on No. 11 Joseph Case in the quarterfinals.
“I really don’t know much about them except for [seven-on-sevens] where they had some really talented athletes so we will have our hands full,” said Reilly.
Hudson 35, Bishop Fenwick 14 — JT Torres scored four times on the ground as the No. 2 Hawks (9-0) cruised by the No. 15 Crusaders (4-5) in a first-round victory.
Winthrop 22, Stoneham 6 — Junior Dominic Farrell ran for touchdowns of 83 and 94 yards in the first half as the No. 12 Vikings (5-4) came away with a first-round upset over No. 5 Stoneham (5-4).
Division 7
Rockland 41, South Hadley 0 — Marvelous Pleasant ran for 136 yards and three scores, including a 64-yard scamper for the No. 7 Bulldogs (4-5) in a first-round romp over No. 10 South Hadley (7-2).
St. Bernard’s 49, Easthampton 20 — Anthony Williams (18 carries, 203 yards) ran for four touchdowns and caught a fifth from Caleb Lafreniere as the No. 3 Bernardians (9-0) dominated a first-round win over No. 14 Easthampton (6-3). Josh Chavoor nailed five of his six PATs.
Division 8
KIPP 34, West Boylston 13 — Aavian Pena broke a 60-yard touchdown in the second quarter and a 56-yarder in the fourth quarter, and Danny Ortiz ran for touchdowns of 7 and 14 yards, adding a 2-point conversion for the No. 8 Panthers (7-2) in a first-round win over the No. 9 Lions (4-5) at Manning Field.
Non-playoff games
Acton-Boxborough 38, Beverly 35 — Senior captain Thomas Quirk passed for 304 yards and five touchdowns, including the winner with 1:16 remaining from 16-yards out to Huey Fahad, leading the Revolution (4-4) to a non-playoff win over the Panthers (2-7).
Bishop Stang 42, Greater New Bedford 8 — Nathan Zexter ran for three touchdowns and nailed four of his five extra-point attempts for the host Spartans (3-6) in a non-playoff home win.
Bourne 27, Holbrook / Avon 12 — Malachi Coelho powered in for four rushing touchdowns to lead the Canalmen (1-7) to a non-playoff home victory.
Brighton 36, Minuteman 0 — The Bengals (4-5) featured a balanced ground attack, running for over 300 yards led by Giovanni Ross (13 carries, 115 yards), Gavin Dodson (8 carries, 111 yards), Artise Brewer (8 carries, 80 yards, 3 TDs), and Mason Soohoo (4 carries, 38 yards, TD) in the non-playoff win.
Falmouth 44, Seekonk 20 — Kam Domino two touchdown passes, rushed for 85 yards, and nabbed an interception, and Max Peterkin scored twice and tallied 108 rushing yards for the visiting Clippers (3-6) in a non-playoff win. Sophomore linebacker Henry McMurray registered 17 tackles.
Framingham 36, Holliston 30 — Pedro Martinez connected with Jesus Batista for a 41-yard fourth-quarter touchdown to propel the visiting Flyers (6-3) to a non-playoff win. Nick Duarte turned 25 carries into 325 yards and four scores and Holliston running back Jake Brodsky had 24 carries for 162 yards and two touchdowns for the losing side.
Methuen 50, Lowell 22 — Caiden Hartley-Didio, Darren Dornezon, and Joey Noe accounted for rushing scores, and all three got on the receiving end of touchdown receptions from senior Lyric DeLeon as the Rangers (3-6) handled the Red Raiders (2-7) in a non-playoff bout between MVC foes.
Nauset 26, Dover-Sherborn 20 — Max Furman rumbled for 242 yard and four touchdowns to carry the Warriors (5-4) to a non-playoff win over the host Raiders (4-5).
Revere 52, Malden 8 — Reda Atoui broke a 99-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and finished with 202 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns to lead the host Patriots (5-4) to a non-playoff win over the Golden Tornadoes (5-4).
Trevor Hass can be reached at trevor.hass@globe.com. Follow him on X @TrevorHass.