Festa, Duxbury make sure lead stays secure against Franklin
FRANKLIN — Duxbury did not let a 14-point, first-half lead get away this time.
Quarterback Matt Festa threw for three touchdowns and ran for a score to lead a 27-point spurt in a 34-21 win over Franklin Friday night. The Dragons led 34-7 in the third quarter before Jase Lyons threw two touchdown passes to pull the Panthers to within a pair of scores.
Duxbury converted a pair of third-down conversions late in the fourth quarter to halt any thoughts of a Franklin (2-1) comeback.
“We didn’t help ourselves on either side of the ball,” Franklin coach Eian Bain said. “Giving up big runs on defense, not executing on first and second down on offense. I think if you look at third-down percentage, they were probably 60, 75%. We were probably 30%. We were terrible on third down on both sides of the ball.”
The Dragons led 14-0 early in last year’s meeting at home before falling 27-14.
“It definitely feels good,” Festa said. “For them to come back and beat us on our own field is kind of an awful feeling. So it’s good to come out here and beat them on their field.”
What it means
Duxbury improves to 3-0 and is emerging as one of the top teams again in Division 4 after making a Super Bowl run a year ago. When asked if this win makes his team the one to beat in D4, Duxbury coach Matt Landolfi said, “There’s about six or seven teams that are going to give us a run for the money, so we have our work cut out for us.”
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“I’d say we’re definitely up there,” Festa added. “Beating a really good team like this is definitely something. Division 4’s a really competitive division, so we’ll see what happens.”
Key plays
Franklin did not force a punt until the third quarter, when the score was 21-7, but fumbled the ball away on its next series. Adam Barr soon took a pass that Festa dropped in his arms while in motion for a 1-yard touchdown.
Later in the third, Franklin had Duxbury pinned near its 10-yard line following a punt and a penalty. But on their first play, the Dragons quickly made it 34-7 when Festa hooked up with Chris Walsh for an 88-yard touchdown.
By the numbers
99: Number of points Duxbury has scored through three games.
Game ball
Alex Barlow. The Duxbury junior scored the game’s first touchdown and ran for some tough yards.
They said it
Landolfi: “Matt Festa, what are you going to say? The kid’s a competitor. I would take that kid any day of the week. He works his tail off, he loves football. I’m just happy to be his coach.”
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Bain: “There’s not a lot of quarterbacks that can do what he can do, but I feel like the Hockomock (League) is loaded with really good quarterbacks this year. But he’s probably one of the better ones that we’ll see. There’s a reason a lot of big-time schools are looking at him.”
What’s next?
Franklin: At North Attleborough next Friday for Hockomock League opener; Duxbury: off until Oct. 7 at Plymouth North for the Patriot League opener.
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on The Milford Daily News: Matt Festa leads Duxbury football to 34-21 win over Franklin
