The Duxbury Dragons captured their second consecutive Division II state golf championship with a seven-stroke victory over Franklin High School on Tuesday at the Pocasset Country Club in Bourne.
It is Duxbury’s fifth State title in Coach Jack Stoddard’s 21-year coaching career and follows last week’s South Sectional title win at the Marshfield Country Club.
When the team left Duxbury it expected bright sunny skies on Cape Cod with temperatures in the 70s. What they got instead were overcast skies with a slight wind and temperatures in the low 60s.
Duxbury’s Jonathan Stoddard led the Dragons with a 76 to finish third in the individual portion of the tournament, while teammates Nick Drago (78) and James Magner (79) made major contributions by allowing the Dragons to be the only team to finish with three sub-80 scorers in their 317-324 victory over Franklin.
Cam Daley’s 84 also counted in the team’s winning total, while Kevin Kuckuk and Stephan Krall rounded out Duxbury’s six participants.
“This feels pretty good,” said Jonathan Stoddard. “I’ve been playing with these kids since I was younger and now we get to play in high school together and are able to win it two years in a row.”
For father and Coach Jack Stoddard, it not only was a gratifying experience, but a tough one as well.
“I have eight really good golfers and the hardest decision I had to make all year long was what six kids I would take to this. I had to leave two kids off that could have helped us. What happened all year long was that people stepped up when someone wasn’t doing well. If we hadn’t had all eight players putting pressure on each other we may not have made it.”