Tuesday’s Boston Globe fantasized that Duxbury take on Everett for the Division I title; a suggestion that the Apponequet coaching staff might agree with after the Lakers took a 31-13 pounding at the hands of the Dragons on Tuesday night in Fall River.

As the two teams shook hands after the game at Durfee High School, members of the Laker’s coaching staff were heard telling the Duxbury players that they were the best team in Eastern Mass.

It would be hard to disagree with that assessment, as the Dragons continued to roll along toward a Super Bowl title with another devastating performance that earns them a spot against Northeastern League champion Gloucester High School on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.

The Fishermen put together one of the most lopsided wins in the history of the MIAA Super Bowls last year when they beat Patriot League champion Hingham. However, this time around Gloucester will be facing a team that backs down to no one.

The Lakers dug their own grave early, as they made the outrageous decision to go for a first down on fourth and less than a yard at their own 29-yard line on their first series. The decision backfired, as the Dragon defensive line held its ground and stuffed John Gaynor for no gain.

“They rolled the dice right away and felt like they had to take some chances. But our defense came up big,” said Duxbury Coach Dave Maimaron.

Five plays later senior running back Shane DiBona took it into the end zone from two yards out, and Ben Startzell kicked the extra point to give a Duxbury a 7-0 lead with 6:21 left in the first quarter.

Just over a minute later junior Matt Savard picked off a Michael Wojtkonski pass at the Apponequet 28-yard line, leading to DiBona’s second score of the game and a 14-0 lead with 3:30 to go in the quarter.

“I was pretty shocked when they went for that fourth down play on the first series,” said lineman Will Shields. “That started to get the momentum on our side, and then we got all those picks, and we just started to get going from there.”

The Duxbury defense continued to hold the Laker offense hostage, as Colin McKenzie picked off another Apponequet pass later in the quarter and returned it to the opponent’s 45-yard line.

After Duxbury’s drive stalled when a fourth-down pass attempt was dropped, the Lakers started to get their offense in gear until senior linebackers Tyler Genereux and Kyle Gavoni swooped in for a pair of losses that killed the drive.

After taking over on their own 34-yard line, bursts by DiBona (24 yds.) and junior Bobby Murphy (25 yds.) put the Dragons in scoring range before settling for a 23-yard field goal by Startzell that gave Duxbury a 17-0 lead with 53 seconds to go in the half.

It looked like the Dragons were in total command until Gaynor almost broke free on the kick-off before being tackled at the Duxbury 43.

Three plays and two penalties brought the ball down to the five-yard line with 12 seconds remaining, but senior linebacker Chris Norling saved the day by sacking Wojtkonski as time ran out.

Duxbury QB Sean Cross came out firing to start the second half, taking the Dragons 70 yards in eight plays with passes of 18 yards to senior Hakeem Lecky, six yards to senior Ian Whitney, 11 yards to Savard, and a 24-yard juggling act by Cully in the corner of the end zone for a 24-0 lead with 5:22 on the clock.

A 42-yard field goal by Startzell on Duxbury’s next drive was nullified by an offside penalty, and was followed shortly after by a 68-yard TD toss from Wojtkonski to Ryan Tomlinson that cut the lead to 24-6 with 6:30 left in the game.

Not to be outdone, Cross dropped back on the next series and got the ball to Lecky over the middle, where the speedy wide-out blew past his defenders for 66 yards and a 30-6 lead after Startzell converted the PAT.

The Lakers scored their final points of the game with seconds remaining to make the blowout look respectable.

“Apponequet won their league championship and went 11-0. There are no bad teams in the play-offs,” said Maimaron. “We didn’t want to overlook anyone cause there are a lot of people out there saying we’re going to win. But we know you have to show up and play, and the kids stayed focused and played their game, and now we are off to Gillette.”

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