James Harris has a breakout game as WB football gets much-needed first win over Nantucket

WEST BRIDGEWATER – With its postseason hopes potentially in jeopardy, the West Bridgewater High football team put faith in junior quarterback James Harris on Saturday.

He delivered over and over again. Harris proved to be especially lethal in the run-option game, as all eight of his carries turned into big plays as the Wildcats defeated Nantucket, 43-8, to improve to 1-2 on the rapidly aging season.

“We have to put ourselves in a spot to make the playoffs and this was a huge game to do that,” said Harris. “I feel like we really performed well today.”

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“I didn’t tell the team it was a must-win because I didn’t want any added pressure on them, but as coaches we knew it was kind of a must-win,” said WB coach Justin Kogler. “I knew if we fell to 0-3, (finishing) 4-4 or 3-5 is probably not going to cut it to get in. They responded, I was proud of them.”

All eight of Harris’ runs resulted in positive yardage, and half of those totes ended with end-zone celebrations.

“It starts with the line, they do their job and then the backs do their job,” said Harris, who ran for 87 yards on eight carries. “We have really good chemistry, starting with the backs. We practice a lot, we practice the option very well and that just shows today.”

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With the Wildcats up 14-0, Harris helped put the game away with a pair of TD runs in the second quarter. He capped a 12-play, 67-yard drive with a 5-yard TD. On an option play, he pulled the ball and won a race to the pylon. Harris helped set up that score by completing a 19-yard pass up the seam to senior captain Sean Carter.

Freshman Ryan Nunes intercepted a Nantucket pass and returned it 25 yards to the Whaler 36 with 26 seconds left in the half. Harris started that drive with a 17-yard run and then, on the last play of the half, he pulled an option for himself and raced for a 19-yard score as time expired. That put the Wildcats up 28-0 at the break.

“I saw the linebackers, they were pulling in the whole game,” said Harris, “so they bit on the run and they were just a little too late to catch me on the pylon.”

Harris continued his stellar day by capping both of WB’s second-half drives with touchdown runs: he ran for a 9-yard TD on the first and on the second, he turned a QB keeper on fourth-and-5 into a 10-yard TD run. On the ensuing kick, Harris had trouble as the holder but on a scramble play, completed a 2-point conversion pass to junior Christian Packard to push the lead to 43-0.

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“I’ve been running this offense for a long time and he can be great at it because he’s so fast,” said Kogler of Harris. “When he pulls the ball, he’s going to make teams pay. He’s doing a really good job reading it right now and hopefully he only gets better.

"He has been doing it well all along. Today, we just ran it a couple times and it worked and we just kept rolling with it.”

Harris knows some of the running lanes are created by the threat of running backs and senior captains Will DeLuca and Carter. DeLuca, a returning All-Scholastic, ran 19 times for 70 yards and a TD. Carter, listed as 6-2 and 260 pounds on the roster, is an imposing presence on both sides of the ball.

“You look at Sean and Will, they’re like double the size of me,” said Harris. “They’re better runners but that’s what draws (the defense) and that’s why the option opens up so well.

“Every single time I hand (DeLuca) the ball, I know he’s getting three, four, five yards every single time.”

“You’ve got to pick your poison a little bit,” said Kogler of WB’s option threats. “You can’t put your focus all on one person. I think that people watching our games early on, a lot of teams focused on Will but I think as time goes on they’re going to have to spread their focus a little bit.”

DeLuca capped a methodical possession (10 plays, 52 yards) with a 1-yard TD run.

Nantucket’s opening drive stalled at midfield, but the Whalers' attempt at a punt sailed over the punter’s head. Pressure from DeLuca kept the Whalers from falling on the ball and allowed junior Sam Salter to recover the loose ball at the Nantucket 12 and return it for a TD.

“I don’t know what the statistics are, but anytime you score a special teams touchdown that greatly increases your chances of winning the game,” said Kogler. “That was big because it was 7-nothing at that point.”

“That’s Will DeLuca,” said Harris. “He’s a team player, he knocks out the punter and Sam picks it up. That’s a huge play, that’s the momentum that won us the game.”

Nantucket’s lone score came midway through the fourth quarter when Griffin Fox turned a double handoff into a 57-yard TD run. He added the 2-point conversion with a run up the middle.

After missing the postseason last year despite posting a 6-1 record in the regular season, the Wildcats opted to play an independent schedule. The hope was that games against teams in higher divisions would boost their power rankings score for the MIAA state tournament. On the flip side of that, tougher competition potentially leads to more losses.

“This sets the momentum to go off and continue a win streak, maybe get the momentum going again and hopefully make the playoffs,” said Harris.

“It definitely boosts morale,” said Kogler of the win. “The kids were down and the coaches were on them. To their credit, they persevered and stuck to the script and took care of it.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: James Harris stars as West Bridgewater High football beats Nantucket