After going 13-0 and winning a Super Bowl title in 2008, it was obvious the Dragons would be hard pressed to duplicate their incredible feats of last season. Playing without the services of his three senior captains and another senior starter, Duxbury Coach Dave Maimaron has been showing the patience of a saint, as his underclassmen-laden football team continued its learning process in Thursday night’s 14-0 loss to Plymouth North.

Despite what looks like a season already gone south, in reality it is far from being so dire, as playoff berths are only determined by league games; none of which have occurred in Duxbury’s first two losses.

While the offense has struggled, the Duxbury defense has done a solid job in keeping the Dragons in both games, improving every play and showing that with some game experience under its belt and the return of Bobby Murphy (RB), Pat McWilliams (WR), and Matt Savard (WR) in the coming weeks, the team should be ready for some meaningful wins come mid-October.

“There’s a lot of coaching going on out there, even during the game,” said Maimaron. “We’re young and we don’t have a lot of experience, and we don’t really have any league games for a couple of weeks. So hopefully we’ll get some of our seniors back healthy and when we get into that league schedule we’ll be ready to go.”

Both teams did little offensively in the first quarter, as the Eagles continuously shot themselves in the foot with penalties. Even a Duxbury fumble on a punt gave the hosts great field position at the Duxbury 24, only to be set back 15 yards by its fourth penalty of the quarter.

Eventually the Dragons kept PN out of the end zone, forcing a 31-yard field goal attempt that went wide left.

It was three and out for Duxbury, as Ben Startzell’s punt put the ball out to the Plymouth North 48. Nine running plays later, captain Matt Walsh led his team into the end zone on a one-yard plunge for a 6-0 lead with 6:41 left in the half.

The Duxbury offense wasn’t on the field for long, as the Eagles picked off QB Matt O’Keefe’s pass on first down and added a penalty to bring the ball back to the PN 41.

“We’re so inexperienced. When we have something going, someone makes a little mistake and it makes all the difference in the world,” said Maimaron. “We just have to cut down on those mistakes and get better.”

After letting the Eagles move the ball down to the Duxbury 24-yard line, the young Dragon defense came up big, stuffing a fourth-down attempt at the 20 and taking over with 1:17 left in the half.

Expecting O’Keefe to air it out, Plymouth went into a prevent defense, allowing sophomore Henry Buonagurio 29 yards on four carries before time eventually ran out.

Special teams allowed the Eagles to take the second half kickoff all the way down to the Duxbury 38 from where QB Liam Cosgrove directed a six-play drive and hit Ben Tirlia for a 15-yard TD pass. Brandon Parks ran it in for two points and Plymouth North was in a commanding 14-0 lead.

Duxbury had little luck advancing the ball against the Eagle defense and was forced to punt once again, as Startzell banged it out to the PN 35-yard line.

The trio of Walsh, Jamie Wood, and Christian Small continued to eat up big yardage and the clock for the home team, driving all the way down to the Duxbury 4-yard where the Dragons dug in once again and kept PN out of the end zone.

With 10 minutes left in the game, senior defensive back Rob Kates stepped in front of a Cosgrove pass for an interception and gave the Dragons some hope at midfield. While the drive stalled, Duxbury did recover the fumbled punt, but could do little with it in its attempt to get back in the game.

“This was a tough offensive outing, but our defense was phenomenal considering our lack of ability to move the ball,” said Maimaron. “For us to only give up 14 points is a great game for our defense.”

The Dragons will try once again to get their first win of the season when they host Quincy on Friday night at 7 p.m.