Finishing its Duxbury Youth Football career in style, the 8th-grade Midget team defeated the Hull Pirates, 24-14, to win the Old Colony League Division 4 Super Bowl on Sunday afternoon. The game ends a spectacular run, as this team lost only one game in the past four seasons.

It was a complete team effort on both sides of the ball, with strong running up the middle from Marshall McCarthy, who provided plenty of punch for a Duxbury squad that didn’t have much trouble moving the chains for most of the game.

A courageous effort from Jon Hurvitz kept the running game moving on the outside as well, as the Duxbury runner was playing in pain with a sore shoulder and at times seemed as if the entire Pirate defense was keying on him.

The offensive line, led by center Bill Weld, guards Drew Lawrence and James Mattes, tight ends Peter DiMartinis, Chris Arthurs, and Michael Roberts, along with tackles Bill Breen, Robert Kosharek and Owen Grey, provided the muscle up front to create holes for the Dragon runners.

The big plays however belonged to QB John Geary and Arthurs, who connected for three TD strikes on the afternoon. Geary masterfully looked off the safety to hit Arthurs in stride for a 44-yard post pattern to start the scoring. McCarthy got solid blocking from CJ LoConte and Breen to score the extra points after each score, while Keenan Siciliano and Pat Buell provided timely running and blocking to keep the offensive Dragon machine humming.

Geary played hero on defense too, as he snagged two interceptions: the second of which he converted into a quick six by finding Arthurs behind the Pirate defense after a strong fake froze the secondary. The Dragons wisely chewed up valuable minutes on the ground down the stretch, only to have Geary find Arthurs one last time, as the fans watched Arthurs make a juggling grab at the back of the end zone.

The defense led the emotionally charged game all afternoon, holding the Pirates to less than three yards on any running play. Hull quickly resorted to trick plays and passing to try to claw their way back in to the game, and it apparently worked, as a well exected shovel-pass resulted in a long TD run to keep the faint hopes of the Pirates alive.

The defensive line play of the Dragons proved insurmountable, as Grey, Mattes, Winston Schromm and Kosharek clogged the holes and forced the Pirates to turn to the air. Defensive end play from Breen, George Ward, Alden Fontana and Steve Bouchie put pressure on the Pirate QB and kept their power sweep under control.

Perhaps the Dragons’ strongest component on defense was the linebacking crew of LoConte, Cody Dormady, Kyle Howard and McCarthy, who were waiting for the Hull runners as they hit the line and met them head on all day long.  The Dragon secondary led by Geary, Michael Roberts, Jack Ball and  JP Geiger left little hope that the Pirates would rally.

The Dragons exemplified team play, as the supporting cast proved invaluable all season long.  Key support on both sides of the ball from Nick Kates, Ben VandeWater, Christian Pierdinock, Issac Estey, Liam MacDonald, David Dolin, Zack Lenhardt, Tyler Sunderland, Dean Delagrange and Matt Tonis added to the depth and strength of the team.