CHS football downed by Dighton-Rehoboth in overtime

Senior captain Vinnie O’Brien makes a tackle in Friday night’s season opener. (Mike Tureski photo)

It was a mixed bag for the CHS football Bulldogs in last week’s season opener, with the young squad dropping a winnable game 15-7 in overtime at nonleague Dighton-Rehoboth.

The good news is the Bulldogs have an excellent defense led by an outstanding linebacking corps as well as a promising running quarterback in junior Hayden Rose. The offense as a whole remains a work in progress, however, with the Bulldogs gaining only 56 yards on the ground with 35 coming from Rose. Rose also threw for 78 yards on two long passes to promising junior receiver Charlie Cox.

Canton led 7-0 through three quarters as the visitors took advantage of a bad punt snap to set up an easy scoring opportunity. Bahsor Mahn responded with his best run of the day, evading several tacklers en route to a seven-yard touchdown.

D-R tied the game with 8:22 remaining as elusive quarterback Hendrix Pray evaded a sack and scampered for a 35-yard touchdown run. With the scored tied at 7-7, the game went into overtime where both teams were given a chance to score from the 10-yard line. The Falcons used Pray’s running ability to score and followed it up with a successful two-point conversion before capping the win with an interception on Canton’s final offensive play.

Commenting on the offensive struggles after the game, CHS head coach Anthony Fallon said the team has potential on that side of the ball and has good size on the offensive line. However, he said there are a number of inexperienced players who must improve their blocking skills and complete their blocking assignments.

Defensively, the Bulldogs excelled at stopping the Falcons for most of the game, including on three fourth-down conversion attempts. Evan Lee had two of the team’s six sacks with single sacks recorded by Giovanni DiStasio, Owen Lane, Andy Butler, and Jack Digirolamo. Mahn led the team with eight tackles while DiStasio and Lane had six apiece. Lane also has experience at quarterback and came in for some offensive plays during the game.

With another young roster and the team coming off an atypical season due to COVID-19, the Bulldogs can expect some growing pains but also hope to be competitive against a tough slate of opponents. The non-league portion of the schedule continues over the next two weeks with games against Norton (Friday at CHS) and at Dedham (September 24).

The schedule continues next month with games against Davenport opponents North Attleboro (away) on October 1, Oliver Ames (home) on October 8, and Foxboro (home) on October 22, followed by a cross-town matchup at Blue Hills Regional on October 29. Then, depending on its record, the team will either enter the state playoffs or play two additional nonleague games before squaring off against traditional rival Stoughton on Thanksgiving Day at SHS. Off the schedule this season is Sharon, as the Eagles have opted out of the Hockomock League for football and has an independent schedule.

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