The Old Rochester Regional High School football team played its Homecoming game on Friday night against Somerset Berkley (5-2) and won 32-20. The victory changed the momentum heavily from the prior week’s loss against undefeated Fairhaven.
“We had a tough week last week, (and) we knew we had to bounce back,” ORR Head Coach Bryce Guilbeault said when asked about the game.
The game started ugly, as Somerset quarterback Derek Baliko ran 65 yards for a touchdown 15 seconds into the game.
“It started ugly, but we didn’t fold,” Guilbeault said.
The Bulldogs immediately responded, as quarterback Gavin Martin scored a touchdown on a sneak. The game was tied at 6-6 only 1:42 into the first quarter. The Raiders found themselves in the end zone one more time in the opening period and scored a two-point conversion to take a 14-6 lead.
ORR wide receiver Noah Bongiorno ran a huge run back to get the Bulldogs into the red zone. The very next play, running back Devin St. Germaine ran 19 yards for the touchdown.
A minute and 43 seconds into the second quarter, the Bulldogs made a big goal-line stop on fourth down and goal to go from the 1-yard line.
“Everybody contributed, our offense, defense (and) special teams,” said Guilbeault.
On offense, Martin scrambled and ran 47 yards for the first down at the ORR 49-yard line. He then threw 22 yards for the Bulldogs’ second touchdown.
ORR had another huge, fourth-down stop with approximately five minutes left in the second quarter to gain back possession, but the Bulldogs turned it over at their own 17-yard line, leading to a touchdown that put Somerset Berkley ahead 20-19 at halftime.
Field Hockey
The ORR field hockey team played Fairhaven (3-12) at home on October 20 and won, 2-1. The win brought the Bulldogs’ record to 3-7-4 entering a rematch between the schools on Tuesday in Fairhaven.
Girls’ Soccer
Audrey Thomas scored both goals, one assisted by Kate Thomsen and one by Liz Feeney, as ORR girls’ soccer went to New Bedford for a rematch against GNB Voc-Tech on October 21 and won, 2-1. The Bulldogs were behind 1-0 at halftime but came back with a strong second half. Junior goalkeeper Emerson Roy made key saves to help ORR seal a win that brought their record to 8-7-1 entering Monday’s game at Fairhaven.
Boys’ Soccer
ORR boys’ soccer faced Division 1 Attleboro (12-1-3) and lost, 2-1. Freshman Grady Oliveira scored in the first 26 seconds, assisted by Luke DeVoe. The Bulldogs took a 7-5-2 record into Monday’s home game against Fairhaven (9-6-1).
Sports Roundup
By Aiden Comorosky