By: Austin Mendes
Old Colony squared off against Case High School on Friday in Swansea
SWANSEA,MA-
Coming off of a conference title victory against South Shore, the Cougars were looking to close out their regular season with a victory against the Case Cardinals and gain a higher seed in the upcoming MIAA state tournament.
Entering the chilly Friday night in Swansea, the Cougars stood at 5-1 on the year, their only loss coming to Blue Hills, who held the longest winning streak in the state at the time. A win against Case would have put them at a 6-1 finish on the regular season.
McGuiggan gives the offense a play
Old Colony started off with the ball, but couldn't get anything going which led to a three and out. Case's first possession, they drove the ball down the field and the drive ended with a 5 yard touchdown pass from senior Tyler Cabral to senior Matt Howard to put case up 6-0 early. Old Colony would strike back after a commanding drive down the field at the end of the first quarter. Junior Jake O'Neil would punch it in from 5 yards out, and a failed two point conversion would even things up at 6.
Case would answer with a 10 yard touchdown run from senior running back Brady Thiboutot. Things got worse before they got better for the Cougars, as the next drive ended when McGuiggan threw his first interception of the year to Case defender Joseph Garell.
Case DB Joseph Garell fights for the interception against Old Colony WR Trevor Taveira
Case would put up another touchdown on their senior night as Tyler Cabral connected with Garell on a 5 yard touchdown strike. McGuiggan would throw his second interception of the night to Case senior Preston Dyer. From here, Dyer would continue his roll as he ran for a 50 yard touchdown against the Cougars. This would bring the game to the halftime score of 30-6 in favor of Case.
The struggles for Old Colony would continue as the first play of the second half resulted in a 40 yard touchdown pass by Tyler Cabral, giving case the 36-6 advantage. The narrative would change although, as Old Colony senior Jacob Legault broke off a big return to set up the Cougars. A dominate drive by the Cougars led to a touchdown from carpentry department senior Patrick Quin, his first varsity touchdown. The Cougars would hold the Cardinals on their next drive as the 3rd quarter would end 36-14 Case.
Shawn Markham turns up field after a catch for the Cougars
The Cougars got a spark from their Junior Quarterback when they needed him the most. Following a rough first half, McGuiggan would come back strong after halftime adjustments. Taking command of the offense, the Cougars would drive down the field and McGuiggan would take it himself from 2 yards out for the score. The Cougars would pull within 14 points of the Cardinals.
McGuiggan cuts up field on a run
Despite the strong surge from Old Colony in the second half, where they outscored the Cardinals 16-6, Case would hold onto the victory, as they beat the Cougars 36-22, dropping them to 5-2 to finish the regular season.
The loss would drop them from the 13th seed to the 15th seed in the MIAA playoff standings.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Patrick Quin
Senior Patrick Quin's strong second half performance on both sides of the ball helped the Cougars in their comeback attempt. With 41 yards on the ground, along with a rushing touchdown off of 7 attempts, the stats don't shine light on his contribution as a whole. Defensively, he assisted in key stops that allowed the Cougars to get the ball back and let the offense work. He ran hard through the holes and to top the night off, he recorded his first varsity touchdown.
Cougar Statistics
Passing:
McGuiggan:
5-16; 60 yards; 2 INTs
Rushing:
McGuiggan:
15 carries; 60 yards; 1 TD; 1 2PT Conversion
Quin:
7 carries; 41 yards; 1 TD
O'Neil:
7 carries; 35 yards; 1 TD; 1 2PT Conversion
Silva:
8 carries; 41 yards
Egan:
7 carries; 32 yards
Legault:
2 carries; 2 yards
Thibault:
1 carry; 2 yards
Markham:
1 carry; 8 yards
Receiving:
Markham:
3 rec; 53 yards
Taveira:
1 rec; 5 yards
Legault:
1 rec; 2 yards
WHAT'S NEXT?:
The 15th seeded Cougars will travel to open the 2021 MIAA State Playoffs as they go to Ware, MA to square off against 2nd seeded Ware High School. Kickoff is at 7 PM on Friday, November 5.
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