It could have been the excitement of the afternoon pep rally, or maybe Dan Candell hypnotized the team as he warmed up for this Friday night’s performance at the DHS auditorium Whatever it was, the Dragons walked through the first 22 minutes of Friday night’s game in a trance, looking like zombies while committing four turnovers in the first half of their key Patriot League game with Whitman-Hanson.

It sure looked bleak for the Dragons as they went to the locker room at halftime trailing 13-0. However, they awoke from their funk in the third quarter, scoring 28 points to grab the lead for good in a 35-20 win over the Panthers.

Prospects for the playoffs boil down to a three-game stretch that started with the Panthers and will continue this Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., when Duxbury travels to Hingham to take on the Harbormen. A win will pit the Dragons against Scituate the following week where a victory will put Coach Dave Maimaron’s team into postseason play.

“You can’t afford to lose any of these league games,” said the Duxbury coach. “This game with Hingham coming up has always been the game that determined the league champions since I have been here.”

Duxbury suffered its first mishap just over two minutes into Friday night’s game, when punter Ben Startzell’s punt was blocked and returned to the Dragons’ 30-yard line by W-H’s Jermaine Carter.

Eight plays later Tyler Munn took it into the end zone on a five-yard run, and David Colclough’s PAT made it 7-0.

A failed onsides kick gave Duxbury great field position at the 49-yard line. However, Kyle Daigneault intercepted QB Kane Haffey on the second play of the drive. The Panthers gave it right back when they failed to make a fourth and one at the 40-yard line, thanks to a great tackle by linebacker Max Randle.

Midway through the second quarter, the Dragons took a huge gamble on fourth and one at their own 34-yard line and fumbled, giving the visitors possession at the 30.

Faced with a third and eleven, the Panthers caught a break on a roughing the passer penalty, placing the ball at the 21-yard line and setting up a one-yard run for a TD by Daigneault. A two-point attempt failed and the visitors lead 13-0 as both teams went to their locker rooms.

“I think a couple of my guys were mad they weren’t picked for homecoming queen, but that attitude changed at halftime,” said a joking Maimaron.

Getting over their rejection during the 15-minute break, the Dragons came out in the third quarter and blew the Panthers off the field, scoring on their third play when Haffey found junior Matt Hallisey down in the left corner of the end zone for a 21-yard TD pass. Startzell’s PAT was good and Duxbury was back in the game at 13-7.

The Dragons’ defense started to take hold, forcing a punt that was fumbled on the snap with sophomore Jay McDermott taking down the punter for a 13-yard loss.

A pair of Haffey runs and a personal foul brought the ball down to the five-yard line where senior captain Bobby Murphy went up the middle to tie the game at 13-13. Startzell’s PAT split the uprights and the Dragons went ahead for good at 14-13.

Less than a minute later Randle put a ferocious hit on the W-H QB, knocking the ball loose for the Dragons to recover on the Panther’s 14-yard line. Five plays later Murphy went in for his second score of the game and Startzell’s PAT had Duxbury up 21-13 with 2:50 left in the quarter.

A key third-down stop by Randle and the Buonagurio brothers (Dan and Henry) forced a punt deep in the W-H zone that Hallisey returned to the 34-yard line. With 26 seconds remaining in the quarter, Haffey hit senior Pat McWilliams for a 33-yard TD toss, with Startzell’s PAT making it 28-13.

What looked like the start of a rout suddenly became a game again in one play, as Daigneault took a hand-off and went 73 yards around the right side for a TD that made it 28-20.

There was still plenty of time for the Panthers to regroup. However Haffey, directed the Dragons on a nine-play, 64-yard drive that consumed just over five minutes, before he found tight end C.J. Cote for a 20-yard TD strike to make it 35-20.

“You can’t make four turnovers in a half and expect to win,” said Maimaron. “They had the short field the whole time in the first half. They are a solid team and we were lucky to be able to get back in the game.”

Maimaron went to his bench in the final five minutes and fans got to see freshman team stars Jon Hurvitz and Henry Narlee, both of whom showed why the ninth-graders are undefeated and raising expectations for Duxbury football over the next few years.