Andrew Guindon
NEFJ Staff
GRAFTON – Grafton running back and senior captain Finn Gilmore led the No. 3 Gators to a 35-0 victory over No. 6 Marblehead in the MIAA D4 Elite Eight on Friday night, rushing for three touchdowns.
“Finn has been doing this all year,” said Grafton head coach Chris McMahon. “All of a sudden he’s picking up a few yards, then he breaks one; he’s pretty patient, so he’s been doing it all year. That’s the thing about Finn, he’s consistent.”
The Gators are now 10-0 on the season, while the Magicians fall to 7-3 amidst a district-wide teacher strike, which left the team without several coaches.
Gilmore opened the first quarter with a 24-yard rushing score on an outside zone run to the left side. The senior captain found the open gap, bursting into the end zone while making a defender miss. Kicker Ryan Davis completed the extra-point attempt.
“It was huge,” McMahon said of the score. “You want to try and start fast, especially against a team like Marblehead. It sets the tone in a lot of ways… It’s always important to score early and to put yourself in the best position to succeed as the game goes on.”
With the Gators out to an early lead, Marblehead struggled to get its run game going, ending its opening drive with a three-and-out. Grafton linebacker Chase Dimond made a crucial play on third down, shooting through the open run gap to shut down the play.
Following a Jake Robertson catch on 3rd-&-12 to force a new set of downs, the Grafton offense set itself up in the red zone early in the second quarter. At Marblehead’s 10-yard line, Gilmore received great blocking from the Gator offensive line, running through a wide open lane for his second touchdown of the night, extending Grafton’s lead 14-0.
Gilmore attributed his success Friday night to the team he has around him.
“My offensive line, the blockers, the wide receivers, the tight ends—they come out here and block; they give me reads and tell me what I need to do. I just work for them. I’m a product of their success,” he said.
Following the score, neither offense was able to generate much success. Marblehead defensive back Cameron Quigley was able to intercept a Sean Griffin deep ball that hit the hands of the intended receiver. Despite the turnover, the Magicians’ offense fell short of the red zone, failing to convert on 4th-&-3 while inside Gator territory for the first time.
Halfway through the third quarter, Gilmore scored his third and final rushing touchdown of the night to push Grafton’s lead to 21-0. The Gators ran a similar play to Gilmore’s first score—an outside zone run that gave the running back room down the left sideline.
A couple of plays later on the defensive side, Grafton defensive back Griffin Landry intercepted Marblehead quarterback Finn Gallup, recording his third interception of the season.
“We were watching Marblehead on film and were really impressed,” said McMahon. “I thought our defense stepped up all week in practice. I thought our scout team did a great job of replicating [Marblehead’s] offense… I thought our secondary played well, and our defensive line did a nice job of keeping their quarterbacks in the pocket.”
In the fourth quarter, a James Hanna interception and an Owen Belanger rushing touchdown closed out the game.
Grafton will now face the No. 2 Scituate Sailors in the MIAA Final Four with a trip to Gillette Stadium on the line next weekend.
“We have to play with the same intensity and focus that we brought today and practice it,” McMahon added. “Developing game plans, that’s the key, and we’re ready to play a good team next week. It’s exciting, and we’re looking forward to it.”
