By Tyler Amaral
NEFJ Staff
WEST ROXBURY – Top-seeded Catholic Memorial rolled to 48-14 blowout win over No. 8 Bridgewater-Raynham Saturday afternoon to advance to the Division 2 state semifinals.
The Knights shook off some early cobwebs and pulled away from the Trojans early.
Catholic Memorial got the ball to start the game. On its first play from scrimmage, senior running back Mekhi Dodd fumbled at the end of an eight yard gain.
After forcing a turnover on downs, Catholic Memorial punted after a quick three-and-out. From the third offensive possession forward, Catholic Memorial looked every bit like the top team in the state.
The Trojan defense had a good read on Dodd and appeared to have him bottled up. Dodd shook loose of a couple tacklers and took off for a 53-yard touchdown to open the scoring.
“I’m excited, but we have a next game up mentality” said Dodd.
The Knight defense forced a quick punt which Jaiden Johnson returned over 40 yards to set Catholic Memorial up inside the Trojan 30 yard line.
Catholic Memorial faked a handoff to Dodd and the entire Bridgewater-Raynham defense bit on the fake. Quarterback Kise Flannery then found some room around the left side and scampered in for a 27-yard rushing touchdown.
The Knights delivered a haymaker late in the opening stanza on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Flannery to Gavin Brown. The Trojans were resilient in the second quarter. Bridgewater-Raynham put together a solid drive, using a quick-hitting passing attack.
Bridgewater-Raynham (6-4) broke through with just under nine minutes left in the half. Quarterback Jack Lambert delivered a nice deep ball to receiver Dylan Reed for a 26-yard touchdown. Catholic Memorial punted it back and the Trojan offense put together another nice drive.
The Trojans had a chance to cut the deficit to single digits with under a minute left in the half. On fourth and goal, Lambert dropped back to pass and threw the ball to receiver Will Porter. Brown made a nice play on the ball to force an incompletion and keep the lead at 13 entering halftime.
Catholic Memorial (9-1) delivered the knockout blow in the third quarter with three touchdowns.
Dodd (eight carries, 171 yards, three touchdowns) scored two touchdowns in 75 seconds to push the lead to 34-7. Dodd showed his versatility as a runner with a bruising four-yard score, followed by a breakaway 49-yard run.
“We practice very hard and it shows in the games” said Dodd.
The third and final touchdown of the quarter came on a 13-yard pass from Flannery to Isaiah Simmons.
The fourth quarter was played with a running clock. Lambert (22-36, 248 yards, two touchdowns) tossed a 13-yard score to Jayson Kelleher to make the score 41-13.
Catholic Memorial backup quarterback, Ramar Thomas is an explosive athlete and scored the Knights final touchdown on a 54-yard run to have the game its final score.
The Knights advance to play Wellesley next weekend in the Division 2 state semifinals at a neutral site. Catholic Memorial has not yet missed the state semifinal round since head coach John DiBiaso took over the program in 2018.
“We thought our season ended way too early last season” said senior captain David Timson. “We have a whole different drive now. We’re ready to go.”
The Knights are now a perfect 8-0 against Massachusetts competition this year, winning all but one game by at least 28 points.
