Alfred, O'Bryant end Brighton's run

Marching into last night's game, Brighton had 15 straight wins, its last loss coming in the 2006 Division 4 Super Bowl to West Bridgewater.

Last night's game didn't crown a champion, but it shook things up in the Boston South, as O'Bryant upset defending champion Brighton, 18-14, at Boston English.

"We've been looking forward to this game," Tigers quarterback Josh Carrington said. "We focus one game at a time, but this game was circled [on our calendar]."

O'Bryant didn't wait long to put points on the board. Sophomore Omari Alfred returned a first-quarter punt 80 yards for the game's first score.

At the end of the first quarter, Brighton had a chance to tie the game with first and goal at the 4, but couldn't punch it in.

David Maloney then found a hole around the left tackle to break a 71-yard dash and put the Tigers ahead, 12-0.

Brighton's subsequent drive stalled at midfield, but the Bengals got a break when Alfred fumbled on his 22. On the next play, a touchdown pass from Kenny Jean to Corey Mayo, who leaped to grab the ball while being the meat in a defensive back sandwich, cut the gap to 12-6 at halftime.

Another Tigers fumble, this one on Brighton's 12, set up an 88-yard drive, as the Bengals swallowed most of the clock in the third quarter.

The drive was capped by Isaiah Long's 2-yard run that tied the game. Daeshod Perry muscled in the 2-point conversion to put Brighton up, 14-12.

After defending champion Brighton took the late lead, answering back seemed a difficult task against a team that allowed no more than 8 points all season. Instead of changing the plan, O'Bryant went right back to Alfred, who finished with 79 yards on nine carries.

"He's a true warrior," said O'Bryant coach Kevin Gadson. "Mistakes are going to happen. When they make a mistake, we don't get down on them. We just tell them 'make a play.' "

After defensive lineman Lyle Jackson forced a fumble at midfield, Alfred ran in the deciding 7-yard touchdown.

"We're not at the top of nothing," Gadson said. "We just got to keep working. We'll see what happens at the end of the season."

"[Execution] was the word this week," said Carrington. The highly recruited quarterback noted he's received letters from Syracuse, Purdue, and Stanford, among others, but his sight is focused entirely on his team's championship aspirations.

"We'll see what's on the table after the season," Carrington said.

"Right now, we have one goal."