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.

It took Murphy just 23 seconds to get his team on the scoreboard and with junior Ben Startzell adding the extra point, the Dragons were quickly ahead 7-0.

“It was nice to have Bobby back in there,” said Coach Dave Maimaron. “He broke that first one and a couple of other big first downs.”

While the quick score seemed to have the Duxbury crowd expecting a blowout, it didn’t seem to faze NQ Coach Ken McPhee’s team, as it mounted a 12-play drive from the Duxbury 49-yard line and ended when QB Mike Stanton took it in from a yard out with 4:34 left in the quarter. The PAT was wide left and the Dragons escaped with one-point lead.

It appeared the crowd was in for an exciting night of offense, but in the end it was the Dragon defense that kept getting stronger as the game progressed, making big plays at opportune times when the Red Raiders looked like they were on the move.

On Duxbury’s second drive of the night, Murphy opened with a 10-yard run for a first down. However, the drive would stall six plays later and Startzell came on for a 37-yard field goal attempt that went wide right with 43 seconds left in the quarter.

The Red Raiders continued to move the ball on the Dragon defense, as they moved all the way down to the Duxbury six-yard line where sophomore defensive back James Burke took NQ’s Terrence Staley down for a three-yard loss.

Two incomplete passes put the visitors in a fourth-down situation at the nine-yard line where senior defensive end C. J. Cote broke through cleanly and sacked Stanton for a nine-yard loss.

After Duxbury was forced to punt, having gone nowhere on three downs, the Red Raiders started another drive from midfield with 2:35 left in the half.

A sack of Stanton by Cote, sophomore Max Randle, and senior Matt Savard appeared to have stalled the drive until Kyle McKay ripped off a 13-yard gain down to the 26, setting up a fourth-down run by Staley for a first down.

A sack and an incomplete pass set up one last play with a second left in the half, allowing junior Adam Martin to pick off Stanton’s pass in the back of the end zone as time expired.

“Our defense was kind of scary in those first two drives,” said Coach Maimaron. “But they eventually tightened it up when we went into our basic defense and played football.”

The second half opened with the Dragon defense presenting a much tougher front, as it was three and out for the Red Raiders, who proceeded to punt the ball to their own 47-yard line.

Runs of 13 and seven yards by Murphy, and a double reverse by Savard that was good for 20, suddenly had the Dragons at the NQ 10. A five-yard burst by Murphy on fourth down kept the drive going until a penalty gave back the yardage. Two plays later sophomore bulldozer Henry Buonagurio broke through a hole in the middle and rambled into the end zone for a 13-6 lead. Startzell’s PAT was good and the Dragons led 14-6 with 3:34 left in the quarter.

The Dragon defense was now suffocating Stanton and the Red Raider offense, as senior Rob Kates broke up a potential first-down pass play that forced the visitors to punt.

Getting good field position once again at the 44, Haffey hit senior tight end Pat McWilliams for nine yards and rolled to his left before hitting Cote all the way down to the 18. On the next play it looked like Murphy was headed for the end zone when he blew through a big hole up the middle. However, he was blind-sided and fumbled at the three-yard line where Savard picked up the loose ball and dove into the end zone. Startzell nailed the PAT and Duxbury had a comfortable win with 3:19 left in the game.

“We had some big defensive plays. They are a good team and they are tough,” said Maimaron. “It’s a league game and they played like it was one. It was much better competition than we have seen the last three weeks and it took our kids a little time to get up to speed.”

The Dragons will see their first day action of the season when they travel to Silver Lake to take on the Lakers in a 1 p.m. matinee on Saturday.