Old Rochester Regional High School’s first crack at March football did not go as well as the Bulldogs would have liked. On March 27, at New Bedford High School, Dighton-Rehoboth’s Jaren Ramos did whatever he wanted on the ground, rushing for over 200 yards, and ORR suffered a 42-15 loss as a result.
“We’re pretty inexperienced right now at the varsity level,” ORR head coach Bryce Guilbeault said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys playing. I think the little things – the little missed opportunities – they all add up, and they can get away from you in a hurry if you don’t step up and make a play.”
One of the few ORR players with significant varsity experience is quarterback Ryon Thomas, who finished with 126 all-purpose yards, a rushing touchdown, and a passing touchdown that connected with Dylon Thomas, Ryon’s brother. Dylon Thomas averaged just over eight yards per reception and had five catches in the loss, but the Bulldogs will need production outside of the Thomas brothers if they hope for better outcomes moving forward.
“I think it was an eye-opening experience for some of them,” Guilbeault said. “We’ve been fortunate; we’ve been pretty successful for a long time. It was humbling for myself and the coaches and, I’m sure, some of the players, the veteran players that we have. Sometimes you just take for granted that things are going to work out and you have to overcome a little adversity. They seem focused at practice (following the loss). They seem ready to work and get right on improving, so, hopefully, we just get better every day this week.”
ORR has a slightly quicker turnaround than usual heading into week two of the MIAA’s Fall II football season. They’re back to Friday night football for their game against Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech. The Bears will play host and kickoff is at 4:00 pm.
Old Colony Football
Old Colony is off to a 0-2 start. Following a 30-16 loss to Tri-County in the season opener, the Cougars again fell by 14 points in their second game, a 28-14 defeat at the hands of Bristol-Plymouth.
The Cougars are off this week.
ORR Girls Soccer
The Bulldogs started the season off on the right foot, thanks to two goals from Maddie Wright in their season opener against Seekonk. Those would be the only two goals scored by either side as Old Rochester Regional goalie Skylar Cardwell finished with seven saves in her shutout victory. The Bulldogs get back to work on Thursday, April 1, at Somerset Berkley. Game time is 3:45 pm.
ORR Boys Soccer
Charlie Hartley-Matteson decided to take on the offensive workload in the Bulldogs’ first game of the season, scoring three goals in ORR’s 4-1 win against Seekonk. Brody Garber was the other goal scorer for the Bulldogs, who host Somerset Berkley on Thursday, April 1, at 3:45 pm.
Old Colony Girls Soccer
The Cougars opened their season with two meetings against Upper Cape Voc-Tech and dropped both, the latter by a 4-1 score on March 25. Lily Tose scored Old Colony’s only goal in that one.
The Cougars play their season series against Diman Voke this week. The teams played on Tuesday in Fall River; Old Colony will host the rematch on its Rochester campus on Thursday, April 1, at 3:30 pm.
Old Colony Volleyball
After winning their first game of the season against Diman Voke in five sets, the Cougars were on the opposite end of a 3-1 finish against the Bengals and lost by the same score against Cape Cod Tech to drop to 1-2 to start the season.
Nina Castillo, Savanna Halle, and Lauren Eldridge have consistently made contributions for Old Colony in the early going. Castillo had nine digs and five aces in the loss to Cape Cod Tech. Halle finished with 10 kills, 14 service points, and four aces in the opener against Diman, while Eldridge scored 27 service points with seven aces.
The Cougars host Cape Cod Tech on Wednesday, March 31, at 5:30 pm.
Sports Roundup
By Nick Friar