By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)
Medford, Mass. – All season long, Dennis-Yarmouth has been as dominant as its record would advertise. On Friday night, quarterback Jacob McCarthy made sure the Dolphins took it to another level.
Behind four touchdown passes from McCarthy, and a nearly perfect defensive effort, Dennis-Yarmouth defeated Watertown, 41-3, in the Division 5 state semifinals at Hormel Stadium.
With the win, the Dolphins (11-0) advance to the Division 5 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium.
A victory on Thanksgiving Day and at Gillette would match a program record of 13 wins, and hand the Dolphins their first state championship under the new MIAA playoff format.
“We played to what the opponent gives us," said McCarthy. "The last few weeks our line has been great allowing Bobby (Evans) to run the ball, but tonight we thought we could take advantage of their secondary.”
As they have done on numerous occasions already this season, the Dolphins controlled the line of scrimmage from the opening snap. They outgained Watertown 413-100 through three quarters, sacked Raiders quarterback Nick McDermott six times, and forced three turnovers.
On the ground, the Dolphins' combination of Bobby Evans and Jonah Arsenault kept the Raiders' (6-5) front seven on their heels.
One week after running for over 400 yards, Evans rushed for 189 more on Friday night over 19 carries and added a touchdown.
D-Y entered the second half holding a 14-3 lead, but within the blink of an eye pulled away from the Raiders.
After Joe Tierney (FR, INT, TD) recovered a Watertown fumble, Evans and Arsenault combined for six carries and 72 yards, capped off by a three-yard Arsenault touchdown run, to increase the Dolphins lead to 21-3.
On the Raiders ensuing possession, McDermott’s deep pass over the middle was intercepted by a leaping Daryan Thompson to put McCarthy and the Dolphins offense back on the field.
Immediately, McCarthy made the Raiders pay connecting with Michael Gurney on a seam route over the middle for a 62-yard touchdown and a 28-3 D-Y lead.
Dennis-Yarmouth refused to let up, and a Samuel Kenny sack forced a Watertown punt at the end of the third quarter.
McCarthy put the exclamation point on the Dolphins’ victory to open the final stanza, lofting a perfect deep ball down the near sideline for a 41-yard touchdown to Tierney to hand D-Y a commanding 35-3 advantage.
“Up front I think we wore them down,” said Dennis Yarmouth coach Paul Funk. “Watertown deserves a lot of credit, but I just think up front we wore them down. I think the way we were rotating backs between Jonah and Rob, I just thought that was the difference in the second half.”
On the opening drive of the game Tierney intercepted McDermott to hand Dennis-Yarmouth good field position inside the Raiders 30-yard line.
Moments later, Evans put D-Y in front stiff arming a pair of Watertown tacklers and racing down the left sideline to put the Dolphins up 7-0.
Connor Kennelly got Watertown on the board with a booming 51-yard field goal, but right before the half the Dolphins padded their advantage.
With eight seconds to playing the second quarter, McCarthy hit Thompson on a back shoulder fade for an 8-yard score to hand D-Y a 14-3 lead at the break.
The loss ends a Cinderella run for Watertown who finished the regular season 3-4 only to rattle off three consecutive postseason wins to claim the Division 5 North crown.
No one can fault the Raiders for falling to Dennis-Yarmouth, who has not had a single game decided by less than 12 points.
“Like we just said as a team, now all we have to do is finish," said McCarthy on being one win away from a state championship. "We have to finish."
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