East Bridgewater High football takes big step towards ending three-year playoff drought

NORWELL – On Friday night, the East Bridgewater High football team picked up a critical win over Norwell, 25-6.

The victory, which was spearheaded by a turnover-hungry defense, makes the Vikings playoff eligible. EB (3-4) entered the day No. 13 in Division 6, while the Clippers (1-6) were No. 12. The loss eliminates Norwell from the playoffs, as it can't reach the three-win minimum with only one week remaining.

EB's defense wreaked havoc as seniors Gage Williams, Patrick Donahue and Michael Oman all had interceptions.

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“I feel like it’s the big plays that matter, but it’s the little plays that count,” said Williams. “The little plays really pushed us to win this game, because you've got to do the little things to win a football game and that’s what we did.”

Williams, a senior captain who plays free safety, returned his interception 55 yards for a score. That gave EB a 13-0 edge at halftime.

Being a three-year varsity player who has never been in the playoffs, this year is special for him.

“First three years we didn’t really do much, sophomore year because of COVID,” said Williams. “Junior year we came in and ended up 2-9 and I feel like that was a building year. Now that we have the experience this season, we’re using it.”

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The Vikings haven't been to the playoffs since 2019. The 2020 season didn't include a postseason and, due to the pandemic, was played from February-April of 2021.

Along with three interceptions, EB also forced three turnovers on downs, five punts and 13 incompletions.

“I think they all played well across the board,” said third-year coach Tim Graham. “We had some turnovers. Defensive backs did a great job, the defensive linemen did a great job, the linebackers as well. It was a great overall defensive effort.”

Other players such as freshman Cylas Hickey, juniors Tim Heath and Ethan Saraiva got big tackles in the backfield for huge losses during the game.

“We’ve fought some adversity,” said Graham. “We’ve had a lot of injuries. We lost three in a row; we’re going out on the road next week (against defending Division 7 state champ Cohasset). But the kids are starting to believe in themselves and they're starting to do what we ask them, and it was a great effort.”

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It wasn’t all defense, as Vikings quarterback Jake Shaw finished with two touchdown passes. One came on the first drive on a 36-yard pass down the right sideline to Chris Oman to make it 7-0.

Shaw's second TD came late in the fourth quarter on a 56-yard throw to Sean Kenn to make the score 25-6.

“They know how to get open and I know how to get them open. I trust them and they trust me,” Shaw of his receivers.

He didn’t forget to credit the offensive line. The Vikings' line also allowed Hickey to run in for a 2-yard TD with six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“They made all the blocks, they did everything,” said Shaw. “We needed that from them. It was tough back then (during the recent three-game slide but) it feels like we’re finally starting to pick it up, so it feels good.”

Friday's loss marks the end of Norwell's playoff hopes, but there's still plenty for which to play.

“For the seniors, we want to finish up the right way,” said Norwell coach John Willis. “But let’s face it, we’ve gone through five or six different quarterbacks this year and Collin (Brown) has done a pretty good job. He’s new to the position; it’s like his fourth or fifth game.”

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The Clippers were scoreless for most of the game until a 6-yard touchdown run from sophomore William Bostrom cut the lead 19-6.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: East Bridgewater football defeats Norwell to improve playoff hopes