The defending Division 2A Super Bowl champion Duxbury High School Dragons have been picked by some pundits as the best football team in Massachusetts. If that designation seemed to put any pressure on Coach Dave Maimaron’s squad you would never have known it by the way they played on Friday night.

Taking on 2010 Division 1A finalist Bridgewater-Raynham in the season opener for both teams, the Dragons showed why they are so highly rated with a 26-0 pummeling of the Trojans.

After several lackluster performances in the pre-season, it took the Dragons about 15 minutes to open the curtain on what promises to be an exciting season.

After neither team could do much in the first quarter, Duxbury took a B-R punt and started a drive at its own 33-yard line. A pass interference call took the ball out to midfield, where QB Matt O’Keefe got his team rolling with a seven-yard keeper, followed by an eight-yard completion to junior Joe Guilfoile. Two more completions to Jon Hurvitz and Don Webber had the ball at the 22-yard line, where Hurvitz took it down to the six-yard line before O’Keefe found Guilfoile for the go-ahead score.

The Duxbury defense continued to thwart every B-R drive, as defensive lineman Mark Trudeau (six tackles), along with linebackers Max Randall (11 total tackles) and Marshall McCarthy (nine total tackles), stopped the Trojans in their tracks and forced a punt once again.

With great field position at his own 42, O’Keefe hit Reilly Naton on consecutive passes down to the 15-yard line. A pair of O’Keefe keepers brought the ball down to the two-yard line where Hurvitz took it in for a 12-0 lead with 2:23 left in the half.

The Duxbury defense continued to stymie the Trojan offense, as the visitors were barely able to cross midfield for most of the first half.

“We knew they would try to run the ball and control the clock, so we had to stop them on third down and get them off the field,” said Maimaron. “We were pretty successful at it.”

After holding B-R on its first series of the second half, the Dragons took over and coughed up the ball when an O’Keefe pass was tipped into the hands of Nick Schlatz. It didn’t take long for Duxbury to get it back, as Randall went to his knees to snare a Brad Deluliis pass on first down that gave the Dragons possession on the 23-yard line.

Four plays later the Dragons were in the end zone when O’Keefe found senior Andrew Buron in the left side of the end zone for a 19-0 lead with 2:31 to go in the quarter.

The visitors were going nowhere on their next possession and executed a fake punt for a first down. It only delayed the inevitable, as a penalty, a sack by Seamus Connelly, and a blocked punt by James Burke put the ball at the B-R 35-yard line.

Duxbury proved it does have a running game when sophomore tailback Khai Perry broke two runs for 35 yards including a 20-yard TD scamper to put a cap on the Duxbury victory.

O’Keefe led all rushers with 79 yards on 10 carries, while Hurvitz chipped in with 45 yards on six carries. In the passing game, Duxbury’s senior QB was 13 for 20 for 97 yards and 2 TDs, while Webber was on the receiving end of four passes for 30 yards and Naton hauled in three for 33 yards.

“This is the first time we have moved the ball like this all year,” said the Duxbury coach. “We needed to be more precise with our offense and we needed a good performance. We’re psyched to come out of here with a win.”

This Friday night the Dragons will travel to Plymouth North to take on the Eagles at 7 p.m.