Funny how things work out when it comes to scheduling. Last year Hanover cost the Lady Dragons a shot at the Patriot League title, and this year Duxbury has a chance for payback. By beating Middleboro on the road Monday afternoon, the Dragons set up a potential championship-clinching opportunity for the Coach Pam Manley’s squad on Wednesday night in Duxbury. A win over the Indians preserves its three-point lead with one game remaining. A loss requires the Lady Dragons to beat Scituate on Friday.

It’s been awhile since senior captain Bobby Murphy saw any meaningful playing time, and once he did, he made the most of it. Taking a handoff from junior QB Kane Haffey, the senior running back showed the speed that has made him one of the fastest athletes in the Patriot League, as he broke through the line and cut left, out-racing the North Quincy secondary on a 41-yard TD run that sparked Duxbury to a 21-6 victory over the Red Raiders.

A 7-1 win over Quincy and a 5-0 shutout of Pembroke has the Dragons at 9-0-2 and ranked #12 in the Boston Globe’s weekly rankings. Despite its undefeated status, Duxbury will get its biggest test over the next two weeks against the Patriot League iron, along with regular season-ending contests with Plymouth North and Marshfield.

She may not garner international acclaim for her skills on the soccer field, but junior striker Melissa Gavin can sure shoot like those that do. Bending a corner kick around Pembroke goaltender Alex Davis with 20 seconds left in the game, Gavin qualified her team for post season play with a 2-1 win over Pembroke, as the Lady Dragons improved their record to 9-2 with seven games left in the regular season.

The DHS boys’ golf team is the first DHS squad to win a league title and make post-season play after defeating Hingham High School, 234-243, at the South Shore Country Club on Thursday afternoon. The championship marks the fourth straight league title for the Dragons and their eighth in the last nine years. The boys had already qualified for the South Sectionals to be held at Easton Country Club on Oct. 27.

Senior captain Dan Sangster has had a flair for the dramatic this season and he did it again last Wednesday in Hanover, as the Dragons took on the Indians in a battle of Patriot League unbeatens. Trailing 1-0 at halftime on a goal by Hanover’s Dylan Griffin, the Dragons battled back in the second half with the help of Mother Nature. With a strong breeze in his favor, Sangster uncorked a free kick around the Hanover wall from just outside the penalty area 10 minutes into the half to tie the hosts at 1-1.

Just when it looked like no one could touch Coach Jack Stoddard’s golf team, the Dragons laid an egg in a 235-246 loss to Pembroke on the Duxbury Yacht Club course that ended their winning streak at 10 games. Rounds of 37 by Peter Camerlengo (3 birdies/3 pars) and Jack Reardon (3 birdies/2 pars) led the Titans to a surprising win, while Billy Curley (38/7 pars) and Bobby O’Brien (39/3 birdies/2 pars) were the top scorers for Duxbury.

They took on a couple of the best teams on the South Shore to start the season, and then faced some of the weaker teams the following three weeks. Having now faced a range of competition during its so-called exhibition season, the Dragons are set to start their run for a league title and playoff berth after shutting out Pembroke on Friday night, 28-0. Facing the Titans was expected to be one of the easier assignments on the Duxbury schedule, but when facing a Bob Bancroft coached team, you know you are in for a battle.

After a stunning 3-2 loss to Rockland to start the week, the Lady Dragon soccer team got back on track in convincing style with a pair of shutout wins over Hanover (5-0) and Middleboro (8-0). “It was quite a turnaround and a complete effort in both games,” said Coach Emerson Coleman. “We just didn’t play that well and we missed a ton of chances against Rockland. They played great and then we come here and play Hanover, who is always a strong team. But this time we capitalized on all our chances.”

The exhibition season continued for the Dragons on Friday night in Whitman where they beat Hanover, 17-0, evening their record at 2-2 and setting up a match with Pembroke on Friday night at 7 p.m. Friday night’s game, like those before it and the one coming up on Friday, has no bearing on who makes the Super Bowl playoffs, so it gives Coach Dave Maimaron plenty of opportunity to get his young club ready for the crucial part of the schedule that starts on Oct. 16 against North Quincy in Duxbury.

Coach John Tocci knew he had the best defense in the Patriot League, and after last week’s 2-0 shutout of Hingham there is little doubt he knows what he is talking about. Registering its fifth shutout in six games, Duxbury remains undefeated (5-0-1) and atop the league standings with a busy week on tap.

After opening the week with another impressive win in a 6-1 trouncing of Middleboro, the Lady Dragons set their sights on payback for one of the most crushing defeats in Duxbury field hockey history. With a chance for a share of the Patriot League title last year on Hanover’s home field, the Lady Dragons saw their dream come crashing to the ground when a foul at the buzzer gave the Indians a penalty stroke that tied the game and cost Duxbury the title.

They have now won 10 matches in a row, and it seems unlikely they’ll get much of a challenge until the last week of the regular season against BC High. With wins over Hanover (241-254), Middleboro (42-30), and Quincy (45-27) last week, the Dragons now stand at 10-1 with nine matches left on the regular season schedule and visions of a serious run at winning a state title.

They don’t have the firepower of Bridgewater-Raynham or Plymouth North, but the Quincy Presidents were just what the Dragons needed on Friday night in Duxbury, as they fell to the home team, 33-6. The special teams play of senior captain Matt Savard and the passing and running of sophomore QB Matt O’Keefe told the story for Duxbury, as the team broke out of its scoring slump in winning its first game of the season.