By Jordan Larkin and Katie Minsk
Walpole Football took their first playoff win of the season on Friday night, Oct. 26, with a 27-7 victory over Plymouth North High School. After not making it through the first round of playoffs for the past three years, this win broke that streak.
“We’ve been 0-3 in the last three years in our first round of playoffs so it’s exciting to get a first-round win, especially at home,” Head Coach Chris Sullivan said.
The Rebels dominated the game and took control very early. Walpole opened up the game with a touchdown by quarterback, Will Jarvis, on their first drive.
“Scoring on the first drive was a huge momentum swinger,” Sullivan said.
Plymouth North tied the game by scoring a touchdown on their first drive as well; however, their only touchdown for the night was not enough to secure a win. Walpole scored two more touchdowns in the first quarter and added two other touchdowns later in the game by junior Drew Von Klock and senior captain Chase Conrad.
“Jarvis was hitting all the cylinders and our receivers made huge plays,” junior Chris Reilly said.
The Rebel’s defense also greatly contributed to the win by preventing Plymouth North from scoring another touchdown aside from the one in the first quarter. In Plymouth’s second drive of the game, the Rebels came back by making a great defensive play by Andrew White, who recovered a fumbled ball and ran into the end zone to score their second touchdown.
“The defense locked it down and didn’t let them back in the end zone again, making some huge stops in the red zone,” Jarvis said.
Moving forward, the Rebels still have to work hard for their upcoming game against Hingham on Friday, Nov. 2. Although the Rebels are excited to move ahead in the playoffs, they have a big challenge ahead and are working hard to beat their next opponent to further themselves in the State Tournament.
“We are going to have to get better from here,” Sullivan said. “We are going to have to go back and watch film, and get better, and get ready for next week.”
All the players on the team were ecstatic about the big win and moving ahead to the next game in the tournament.
“It’s just huge to get a good win to keep everyone excited and ready to keep rolling into the playoffs and farther,” Reilly said.
