The Old Rochester Regional High School football team played its first postseason game at home against North Middlesex on November 3 and won 28-14 to advance to the MIAA Division 5 quarterfinals.
The Bulldogs (5-4) were down 14-0 four minutes into the game but eventually settled in, and once they did, they were able to keep North Middlesex (6-3) out of the end zone and more, forcing five turnovers as Jack Leconte made two interceptions, and Devin St. Germaine made one.
On offense, ORR started to go no-huddle and that gave North Middlesex problems. Mateo Pina and Gavin Martin had two rushing touchdowns each.
The Bulldogs will play Shawsheen Valley Tech (7-0) on Friday, November 10, at 6:00 pm in the state quarterfinals.
Editor’s note: The Shawsheen campus is located at 100 Cook Street in Billerica, 79.5 miles from the ORR campus. Traffic on I-95 north (Route 128) in the evening commute slows down north of I-90 (Massachusetts Turnpike.) Connecting to Route 3 via Route 495 north is also a slow go at that time. Listen to WBZ 1030 AM “traffic on the 3s” and try to get an early start. Burlington has lots of restaurants.
Girls Volleyball
Old Rochester defeated visiting Dennis-Yarmouth, 3-2 (19-25, 25-19, 25-17, 23-25, 15-12), in Monday’s MIAA Division 3 Round of 16, earning a quarterfinal match against the winner of Tuesday night’s battle between third-seeded Weston and Belchertown. A Weston victory would send the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (17-4) on the road at a date to be determined.
“Over the past four seasons, we have faced D-Y in the playoffs, and I think we have a fun and friendly rivalry going on between two solid teams,” said ORR coach James Oliveira.
Kam Rodrigues had 15 kills, and Ava Vander Pol had 14 of her own. Junior Aubrie Letourneau had 4 service aces and 23 service points. D-Y’s season ended at 12-9.
With two playoff victories, ORR is now on an unbelievable 10-game winning-streak. The Bulldogs previously swept Triton (5-11) by set scores of 25-14, 25-23 and 25-11. Letourneau was named the player of the game with 27 assists, 16 digs, 18 service points and five aces. Arielle Troupe had 10 kills, and Caroline Brogioli had 16 digs.
Editor’s note: Weston High School, 444 Wellesley Street, would be a similar but shorter ride than the football game. From I-95 (128) north, exit (39A-B) as though you were taking the Mass. Pike (I-90), but once on that ramp, follow signs to Route 30 west. The campus is less than 3 miles.
Boys Soccer
ORR boys’ soccer opened the postseason on November 3 with a 2-1 victory over Fairhaven (9-9-1.) George Psichopaidas scored the Bulldogs’ first goal, and junior Asher O’Brien-Nichols scored the game winner with two minutes left and was named the player of the game.
Two days later, Psichopaidas and Reilly Garber scored in regulation, and the 27th-seeded Bulldogs (12-6-2) took sixth-seeded Dedham (12-3-4) to six rounds of penalty kicks before falling, 3-2.
Girls Soccer
ORR scored early but fell 7-1 to Pembroke in the opening round of the Division 3 tournament on November 2 and finished the season 10-9-2.
Unified Basketball
The Unified basketball team traveled to Fairhaven (3-2) for the second time this season and once again was victories to finish the campaign with a spotless record of 6-0. Emilia Cantwell scored 6 points, played outstanding defense, and was named the player of the game. The Bulldogs will be playing in a jamboree this month, as well as the much-anticipated Unified Bulldogs vs. Tri-Town Police game on Tuesday, November 21, at 6:30 pm in the ORRHS gym.
Sports Roundup
By Aiden Comorosky