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September 23, 2007
Five thoughts
By Chris Forsberg, Boston.com Staff
Wrapping up today's coverage with five thoughts from Acton, where the 19th-ranked Colonials topped 12th-ranked Wayland, 17-0, in a Dual County League showdown today at Leary Field. Check out the previous posts for all the video from today's game.
Numbers game -- Wayland marched to the Acton 1 as part of a 17-play opening drive before quarterback Jeff Brewington was intercepted in the end zone. The numbers from there are downright staggering:
Plays run in second quarter: 7
Yards gained in second quarter: 28
Plays run in third quarter: 5
Yards gained in third quarter: 50
Plays run in fourth quarter: 6
Yards gained in fourth quarter: 6
So, not including punts, the Warriors ran 18 total plays over the final three quarters after their 17-play opening drive. Of the 84 yards mustered in that span, 50 came on one long run by Brian Flynn early in the third quarter. The run -- from the Wayland 8 -- moved the Warriors to the Acton 42. A 4-yard loss on second down ultimately forced the Warriors to punt the ball with 5:24 to play in the frame.
They wouldn't get it back until 8:44 remaining in the game and went three-and-out.
Numbers game II -- Acton endured one three-and-out series late in the first half, but didn't give the ball up easily beyond that. The Colonials opening drive spanned 90 yards on 15 plays and led to a touchdown. Acton's first possession of the second half (and third of the game) spanned 17 plays and yielded a 28-yard field goal by Miles McDonald. Its final drive (besides two kneel downs) covered 62 yards on 13 plays before Julian Dufresne scored on a 6-yard run to make it 17-0 with 1:24 to play.
Overall production: Acton -- 50 plays, 250 yards; Wayland -- 35 plays, 175 yards.
Numbers game III -- Acton watched a trio of backs total 60 yards or more with Akeem Mercury piling up a team-high 92 yards on 13 carries. Workhorse Jeason added 79 yards on 21 carries, while Dufresne registered 62 yards on 10 trots. Wayland got 67 yards on 11 carries from Flynn. Brewington finished 8 of 15 passing for 90 yards with two interceptions.
Credit the not-so-big guys -- Despite giving up some serious size up front, Acton-Boxboro's offensive line dominated. The unit -- featuring junior left tackle Robby Ruggerio (6-0, 200), junior left guard Ben Fitzer (6-1, 200), junior center Evan Hutton (5-11, 190), senior right guard Nick Peterson (6-3, 270), and senior right tackle Ryan Smith (6-1, 230) -- pushed Wayland around, especially in the second half when the Warriors desperately needed a stop.
Mistake free -- Before the game, Wayland coach Scott Parseghian noted that his team would have to play mistake free in order to succeed against Acton-Boxboro. Nursing injuries, the Warriors couldn't afford to be further hampered by mental mistakes. Unfortunately, a costly interception on the first drive, along with a holding penalty that negated a long run, kept Wayland from putting points on the board early on and they had to play from behind all day. Don't be deceived by the final score. This one could have been closer. But credit Acton-Boxboro for completely dominating the final 33 minutes of play after coming up with the big stop in the first quarter.
