By Tyler Amaral
NEFJ Correspondent

MIDDLEBOROUGH – In the first high school football game of the year in Massachusetts, Middleborough knocked off non-league rival Apponequet 14-7 in a defensive battle Thursday afternoon.

The Middleborough passing attack struggled for much of the game, but junior signal-caller Colton Ward connected with Wyatt Goyette on a go-ahead 28-yard touchdown with just under 10 minutes to go in the game.

Goyette displayed an explosive skill set throughout the game, as he scored two other touchdowns in the second and fourth quarters, which were negated by Middleborough penalties. The third time was the charm for Goyette as there were no flags on the play.

“There were some mental mistakes, but I knew my guys were gonna bounce back,” said Goyette.

Ward is a first-year starter at quarterback for the Sachems and seemed to progress throughout the game. Goyette split time at quarterback and receiver last season as a sophomore, but has shifted to receiver permanently for this season.

“Wyatt started last year for us at quarterback as a sophomore against Apponequet,” said Middleborough head coach Pat Kingman. “We also need [Goyette] to play some defense for us, so [the coaching staff] were like what’s the best thing to do? Let’s put him in space and do some stuff with him.”

Andrew Falk was the man of the fourth quarter for the Sachems. First, with Middleborough facing a fourth down, Falk took a direct snap and scampered 15 yards for a first down to extend the drive and allow Middleborough to use more clock. The Sachems ultimately ended up turning it over on downs on that possession.

“You’ve just gotta step up at that point,” said Falk. “I told Kingman, we gotta get some yards here. We ran this play earlier in the game and I got 10 yards on it.”

On the ensuing defensive possession, Middleborough put Apponequet in a difficult spot. With two minutes left in the game and the Lakers out of timeouts, Apponequet was facing a fourth and 10. Star running back Brody Joly caught a swing pass and picked up nine yards, but Falk was there to make the tackle just before the first down marker.

“Nobody talks about Andrew Falk,” said Kingman. “He might be the most dominant player on the field. He makes a zillion plays on defense. He made a huge fourth down stop at the end of the game. You need a big play on third or fourth down, you gave him the ball and he runs it.”

The first five-plus minutes of the game gave the false impression it would be a shootout, in classic Middleborough fashion.

Caiden Carriuolo took a snap 59 yards for a touchdown on the game’s second play from scrimmage. The extra point put the host Sachems up 7-0 less than a minute into the game.

Apponequet (0-1) quickly answered with a touchdown drive of its own. Quarterback Paxton Canessa connected with Joly on a 21-yard touchdown pass. Joly leaked out of the backfield and found a hole in the Middleborough defense.

The game would then feature no points for nearly three quarters of action until the Ward-to-Goyette connection early in the fourth quarter.

“People, for years, have seen us put up points on offense,” said Kingman. “We knew that where we are right now offensively isn’t where we wanna be.”

Middleborough (1-0) will host Holliston next week. Apponequet will stay on the road as they visit another South Shore League power in Abington.