Harry Bradshaw stars with his foot as the Hingham High football team defeats Rockland

HINGHAM – As the kicker on the Hingham High football team, junior Harry Bradshaw didn’t expect to be the hero of Friday’s season opener against Rockland.

But seemingly every time he stepped on the field, something good happened in Hingham’s 19-14 victory.

“It was huge, he was probably our most important player on the field today,” said Hingham senior captain Ronan O’Ciardubhain of Bradshaw.

More: All the Week 1 South Shore high school football scores and highlights

Bradshaw was perfect on his three field goals, making an extra point and a pair of 27-yard field goals. He was plenty dangerous on kickoffs, too. Three of his onside kicks were recovered by Hingham, including two in the third quarter which kept Rockland’s offense off the field for the entirety of the frame. (Hingham had 21 offensive plays to Rockland’s zero.)

“That’s a pretty damn good day for a junior kicker right there,” said Hingham coach Mark Nutley.

Bradshaw’s secret to earning extra possessions? Just kick it.

“I just line up left, kick it right and somehow it just bounces off kids every time and we always recover it,” Bradshaw said of the onside kicks.

“Great player, he’s dedicated to his job,” O’Ciardubhain said of Bradshaw. "He spends the whole practice kicking and kicking and kicking and kicking. That’s his thing.”

More: Braintree QB James Tellier already has his first win of 2022 – this summer he beat cancer

Hingham’s aggressive approach on kickoffs is not a new strategy. Nutley estimated the Harbormen recovered seven or eight last season.

"We live and die by it,” said Nutley. “If it kills us, it kills us, but we got a bunch of extra possessions tonight.”

“I get very excited because I know our hands team is going to go on down and get it,” said Bradshaw of how he feels when the call is for an onside kick.

Hingham’s QBs step up at the right time

Bradshaw’s heroic day looked like it might end with a chance at the go-ahead kick late in the fourth quarter, but he was happy to share some of the shine.

Trailing 14-13 with a third-and-goal on the 6, senior quarterback Jack Nicholas sprinted outside on the pocket on a bootleg and found enough space to keep it himself for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:17 remaining.

“That just shows the type of player he is,” said O’Ciardubhain of Nicholas. "He steps up in big moments. We’ve seen that before. He makes big plays happen, that’s why he is where he is at right now.”

More: THE 100: South Shore high school football players you've got to see play this fall

Nicholas took most of the reps at quarterback, but gave way to junior Matthew Morrell for a drive. Morrell led the Harbormen on a 10-play drive that ended with Bradshaw’s second field goal of the day to put Hingham up 13-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Moriarty has 'It'

Senior captain Michael Moriarty served as Rockland’s change-of-pace QB for much of last season. Sitting behind a dual-threat QB in PJ Celestino, Moriarty’s role was to push the ball downfield with his big arm.

On Friday with the QB job clearly his, he excelled. Hingham’s size limited Rockland’s usually strong ground game to just 11 yards rushing, but Moriarty finished 12 of 20 passing for 186 yards.

Two throws, both coming on third-and-long situations, stood out above the rest.

More: Rockland High football has a new quarterback, but still same goals following state title

In the second quarter on a third-and-10, Moriarty rocketed a deep throw over the middle off his backfoot to senior captain Jacob Coulstring about 20 yards downfield. Moriarty hit Coulstring (three catches, 127 yards) in stride and the receiver picked up 79 yards before being tackled at the Hingham 1. Junior Jordan DePina followed with a 1-yard TD run on the next play, and Jacob Comman’s extra point put Rockland up 7-3.

In the fourth quarter, which was also Rockland’s first drive of the half, a penalty pushed the Bulldogs into a third-and-20 situation. That didn’t matter, nor did the pressure from Hingham’s defensive line, as Moriarty stood tall in the pocket and found Coulstring with a rocket down the seam for a 39-yard TD connection. That, coupled with Comman’s extra point, put the Bulldogs up 14-13 with 8:44 remaining.

“It’s his team and he gives us that added dimension in the event a team like Hingham shuts down our run game a little bit that we can still get the ball to the outside or downfield like we did today,” said Rockland coach Nick Liquori. “He’s pretty accurate when he’s throwing off his back foot or rolling out, doing anything along those lines."

St. Pierre pounds the rock

Having a size advantage in the trenches meant Hingham’s gameplan was run-heavy, specifically junior Will St. Pierre-heavy.

After trudging his way to 28 yards on 10 carries in the first half, eventually St. Pierre wore Rockland’s defense down in the second half. He finished the day with 26 carries for a hard-earned 106 yards.

Hingham opened the second half with a 12-play scoring drive. On that drive, St. Pierre churned nine times for 30 yards. He capped the drive with a 3-yard TD run to put Hingham up 10-7.

“We got (Rockland’s defense) a little tired maybe (in that third quarter), we’re just going to pound the ball,” said Nutley. “We’ll pick up three yards if we have to. Will puts his foot down and runs straight ahead. He doesn’t dance, he goes straight ahead for us, which is nice.”

“We go at it in practice, man, I can tell you myself, he’s one of the toughest kids I know,” said O’Ciardubhain of St. Pierre. “Him getting that many touches and still wanting to come back in even when he’s gassed, huffing and puffing, it’s just unbelievable.”

Strong showing for both sides

The win makes it two in a row over Super Bowl champs for Hingham. The Harbormen defeated Scituate on Thanksgiving last year. A week later, the Sailors beat Duxbury in the Division 4 state final. Rockland came into Friday’s game as the defending Division 6 state champs.

“We feel on the top of the world, we feel like we can beat anyone,” said O’Ciardubhain.

More: South Shore Top 10 high school football rankings (plus five other teams I couldn't fit)

For Rockland, even a losing result was an impressive showing. The Bulldogs, who played far from their best game, showed they can hang with a team that made the playoffs in Division 2 last season.

“I’m proud as heck of them, this is only going to make us better for next week and for (Whitman-Hanson),” said Liquori.

“That’s a heck of a football team,” said Nutley of Rockland. “I just told all those guys, I’m hoping we join them in Gillette this year because I think they’re going to be back there. That’s a pretty good football team down there, man.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Kicker stars as Hingham High football team holds off Rockland