September 9, 2023 – Story and photos by Joshua Ross
If there’s one thing new head coach T.J. Byrne can hang his hat on after the Harbormen’s 20-16 loss to Braintree in the season opener is that his team never quit. Down 14-3 and 20-10 at different points in the game, Hingham’s resilience is one of the things they can be proud of heading into week two.
“I’m encouraged that at the end of the game we had a chance to win it,” explained Byrne after the game. “At different points, they had two score leads, but we stayed with it and stayed after it.”
The Harbormen fell behind 7-0 early in the first quarter, but cut they lead to 7-3 early in the second. The Womps pushed their lead to 14-3 late in the first half. On the ensuing kick-off, senior Logan Price ran the ball back to the Braintree 30 yard line. Another 15 yards were added after a horse collar penalty. Two plays later, senior captain Will St. Pierre ran it in from the 10 bringing the Hingham within 3 points at halftime.
The Harbormen’s defense held the Braintree offense to a quick first possession of the second half. Hingham had the ball for most of the third quarter but failed to capitalize with a missed field goal. The first play of Braintree’s next possession was an 80 yard TD run. Hingham’s defense was outstanding after that not allowing another point, while recording an interceptions from senior Owen Hart, multiple sacks from the defensive line and almost a fumble recovery. Late in the 4th, sophomore more Chase Beighley broke a tackle midfield and outran the defense down the sideline for a score. A missed extra point kept the score at 20-16. The Harbormen got the ball back with a little of a minute to play but just count find the end zone one last time despite some good looks from senior quarterback Matt Morell.
“The story of tonight is just not executing,” Byrne went on to say. “We didn’t execute and when we didn’t it hurt us. It’s a new system going in, new guys, a lot of guys playing varsity for the first time, new coaching staff coming in, so we expect some of those things to happen. We have to work out the kinks a little bit. All in all, they believe in what we are doing. If we didn’t stay in it and we didn’t stay fighting, this could have been a 28-7 game, but it wasn’t and we were right there at the end. So all the things we are doing we are doing right, it just comes down to execution. Everything here is fixable.”
One of last year’s strengths on the team was the defensive front seven. That looks to be the case again this year anchored by senior captains Gunnar Corey and Matt Kelley. Senior Colin Hay and sophomore Andy Ross were also all around the ball last night causing issues for the Braintree back field.
Special teams also appears to be a bright spot as well for this team. Price and Hart returning kick-offs and punts, respectively, give the Harbormen a chance to change the momentum of games this year. As well as senior kicker Harry Bradshaw who has the ability to win games with his foot.
While Morell got the start at QB and played most of the snaps, sophomore Jake Varholak was in for certain situations and that could continue throughout the season.
“It will be game by game,” Byrne answered. “Jake and Matt are working well together.”
The schedule won’t get easier for the Harbormen next week when they welcome Hanover for the season’s home opener Friday night at 7pm. Hanover is coming off a huge win against Duxbury this week and is always a tough opponent.
