Two SouthCoast football teams are playing for conference championships in Week 7 action
A pair of SouthCoast football teams have a chance to wrap up conference titles on Friday night.
A road win over Seekonk would give undefeated Fairhaven its second straight South Coast Conference Gold Division championship.
Undefeated Old Colony is in a similar position as the Cougars can capture their second straight Mayflower Athletic Conference Small title by beating South Shore at home.
Here's a look at all of the football action for Week 7:
SEASON STATS: SouthCoast top 20 leading scorers in football after Week 6 action
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Fairhaven at Seekonk
When: Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Records: Fairhaven (6-0); Seekonk (3-2)
Last week: Fairhaven 36, Sharon, 29; Seekonk 46, Bourne 6
Outlook: No one has been able to slow down Justin Marques and Fairhaven’s rushing attack this year as Marques scored five touchdowns for the second time this season in last week’s thrilling win over Sharon to keep the Blue Devils undefeated. Marques now has a SouthCoast-leading 17 touchdowns this year and is three away from tying the single-season school record of 20 set by Cadence Chase in 2021. Last week was the first time Fairhaven’s defense gave up more than 20 points in a game this year. The Blue Devils are holding the opposition to an average of 11.2 points per game while the offense has scored more than 35 points on four different occasions. Seekonk saw its two-game losing streak come to an end last week in dramatic fashion as the Warriors put 46 points on the scoreboard against Bourne. Seekonk used a balanced attack to capture its third victory. Jaden Arruda threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another score while Biniyam Ridiero (over 100 yards and two TDs) and Harry Murphy (TD) led the ground game.
Old Rochester at Somerset Berkley
When: Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Records: Old Rochester (4-1); Somerset Berkley (4-2)
Last week: Old Rochester 35, KIPP Academy 8; Somerset Berkley 37, GNB Voc-Tech 7
Outlook: Both teams are riding momentum into this key South Coast Conference Blue Division matchup. An ORR victory coupled with a win by Apponequet over GNB Voc-Tech this week would set up a Thanksgiving Day matchup for the title. The Bulldogs captured their third straight win last week behind a complete game from offense, defense and special teams. Noah Sommers completed eight passes for 175 yards and a score while Walter Rosher rushed for a pair of touchdowns. Rosher leads the Bulldogs with 10 TDs on the season. Rudy Arsenault had an 81-yard kickoff return for a score. Hunter Bishop had two key sacks on defense. Meanwhile, the Raiders are coming off a dominant win over GNB Voc-Tech as they have won four of their last five games. Last week, Ashton Khoury, Davis Sullivan and Matt Baldwin each scored rushing touchdowns while Khoury returned an interception for another score. Owen Meehan threw a touchdown pass to Ian Sullivan as well.
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Archbishop Williams at Bishop Stang
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Records: Archbishop Williams (2-4): Bishop Stang (3-3)
Last week: Bishop Fenwick 29, Archbishop Williams 22; Cathedral 18, Bishop Stang 13
Outlook: The Spartans will look to get back on track after losing two straight. After averaging 25 points per game through the first four weeks, Stang managed just a combined 19 points over the last two weeks. With Michael Golden sidelined last week, Tyron Gomes had a strong game, carrying the ball eight times for 62 yards and scoring a touchdown. He also blocked a punt. For Archbishop Williams, Joe Schwartz threw a pair of touchdown passes against Bishop Fenwick last week. The Bishops have lost three out of their last four games with the win over that stretch coming against Cathedral.
South Shore at Old Colony
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Records: South Shore (4-2); Old Colony (6-0)
Last week: South Shore 34, St. John Paul II 0; Old Colony 34, Blue Hills 30
Outlook: The Cougars face another big test this week against a South Shore team that has won two straight and is averaging 19 points per game. Old Colony delivered last week against Blue Hills with some late-game heroics. Down 30-28, Matt McGuiggan partially blocked a punt and Max Finney returned it 30 yards to set up the game-winning touchdown pass from McGuiggan to Trevor Taveira with 2:17 to play to put the Cougars on top for good. It was McGuiggan’s first touchdown pass of the season. Old Colony had to rally three times in the game. The Cougars’ other four touchdowns came on runs by Ryan Silva (six and 15 yards), Jake O’Neill (23) and Michael Willwerth (four). Against St. John Paul II, Jared Madden had a hand in four touchdowns, throwing for a pair and rushing for two more.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES
New Bedford at Brockton
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Records: New Bedford (0-6); Brockton (5-1)
Last week: Bridgewater-Raynham 28, New Bedford 21; Brockton 59, Pinkerton (NH) 44
Outlook: The winless Whalers put together their best performance of the season as they had a chance to tie it up against Bridgewater-Raynham late in the game. Amari Harris threw two scoring strikes to Jahzed Valls and Edmilson Semedo. Valls also returned a kickoff for a touchdown as New Bedford enjoyed its highest offensive output of the season. The Whalers are hoping to carry momentum from that game into this week’s matchup against rival Brockton, which has won four straight. Last week the Boxers put a whooping 59 points on the scoreboard thanks to a monster game from Kole Osinubi, who had over 250 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
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Wareham at Cape Cod Tech
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Records: Wareham (2-3); Cape Cod Tech (1-5)
Last week: Wareham 42, Atlantis Charter 12; Upper Cape 37, Cape Cod Tech 12
Outlook: Ajay Lopes and the Vikings enjoyed quite the breakout performance last week as the junior running back scored five touchdowns to help Wareham capture its second win of the season. Lopes now has 11 touchdowns on the season and ranks second among all SouthCoast football players in scoring with 70 points. Wareham also got a big game on both sides of the ball from Will Halloran, who had two interceptions on defense in addition to scoring a touchdown on offense. Cape Cod Tech, which has been outscored a combined 177-88 this season, has lost three straight games. The Crusaders’ lone win came in Week 3 against Bourne.
GNB Voc-Tech at Apponequet
When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Records: GNB Voc-Tech (1-5); Apponequet (5-1)
Last week: Somerset Berkley 37, GNB Voc-Tech 7; Apponequet 30, Dighton-Rehoboth 6
Outlook: The teams enter this South Coast Conference Blue Division game riding different kinds of streaks. After opening the season with a win over Southeastern, the Bears have lost five straight and been outscored a combined 111-21 over that span. A bright spot for Voc-Tech has been sophomore running back Aliaz Colon, who leads the team with five touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Lakers have been red hot, winning five straight games. The defense hasn’t given up more than 10 points since Week 2 while the offense is clicking on all cylinders with Harrison Lemieux leading the way as a dual-threat quarterback. Lemieux has thrown a SouthCoast-leading five touchdowns passes while also rushing for six more scores. Jackson Gagnier has been a force with six TDs while Quinn Bennett has four. If Apponequet wins and so does Old Rochester (against Somerset Berkley), the Lakers and Bulldogs would play each other for the SCC Blue championship on Thanksgiving.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Week 7 preview of SouthCoast football
