Entering the final week of the regular seaon, the 22 teams comprising the Varsity Midget Division of the Old Colony Youth Football League had only two unbeaten teams: the Marshfield Rams and the Duxbury Dragons.

As if this heated rivarly needed any more drama, the game was not decided until the final minute when the Dragons emerged victorious, 26-18, in front of a packed house at the Duxbury Middle School field Sunday afternoon.

Duxbury’s 8th-grade group played their best game of the season, and it started on the first play, as Jon Hurvitz (3 TDs) took the opening kickoff  77 yards to paydirt. Hard running by Marshall McCarthy, Keenan Siciliano, Pat Buell and John Geary kept the chains moving most of the day, as the Dragons’ first drive after the opening TD saw QB Geary find Chris Arthurs streaking down the sideline for a 65-yard TD reception. Arthurs made an acrobatic over-the-shoulder grab, eluding two Ram defenders to give the home team a 12-0 lead.

The Dragon defensive ends were immense all afternoon, with Bill Breen, Alden Fontana and George Ward stuffing Marshfield’s potent power sweep, while fierce linebacker play from Cody Dormady, CJ LoConte, McCarthy and Kyle Howard kept Marshfield frustrated most of the day.

The Rams thought they had found a weak spot in the Dragon defense when they tried to run at Duxbury’s undersized cornerback, JP Geiger. Each time they were thwarted, as Geiger expertly shed blockers and dropped the larger Ram runners.

In the trenches, the Dragons’ front line of Robert Kosharek, Winston Schromm, Owen Grey and James Mattes clogged the middle and put pressure on the Ram offense.  Smart safety play by Geary and Michael Roberts held the Marshfield aerial attack grounded.

LoConte perfectly read the eyes of the Ram QB and picked off a slant route and returned it to the Marshfield 6-yard line, where Hurvitz weaved his way through the Ram defense, scoring his second TD three plays later. The pivotal extra point saw Peter DiMartinez make a superb fingertip grab of a Geary strike giving the Dragons a comfortable lead.

Two momentum changing goal-line stands by the Dragons proved insurmaountable for the Rams, as ball control offense kept the Dragon offense on the field most of the second half.  Running behind Bill Weld, Drew Lawrence, Breen, Grey, Mattes and Kosharek, the Dragon runners had room to move the ball.

The playoffs are next up for the undefeated Dragons, who will be the favorites to repeat as Super Bowl champions.