SCITUATE – Quincy took a sledgehammer to midfield pregame for some added incentive as it travelled to Scituate for a key Patriot League matchup.
Not only did the prop not work – the defending Division 4 Super Bowl champions didn’t take kindly to the stunt, and it backfired immensely.
The pre-game shenanigans only added fuel to the fire for the Sailors (5-1) as they rattled over 20 unanswered points on the way to a 48-14 rout over the previously undefeated Presidents.
Grayson Foley had career highs with 242 yards on only 16 carries and four rushing touchdowns for Scituate as it kept pace for the league championship with the win.
“Pre-game when (Quincy) came out, it got us a little angry, but we went back to the locker room and we knew what we had to do,” said Foley. “We came into this game knowing that our goal was to win, we needed the win, and we came out and wanted it more.”
Foley scored three of his four touchdowns to open the scoring for Scituate. Foley scored on runs of three yards and five yards in the first quarter and punctuated things with an electric breakout 40-yard run to open the second quarter as Scituate was staked to the 20-0 lead with 11:37 left in the second quarter.
“Overall, we played a physical game, and we were ready to play,” said Scituate head coach Herb Devine. “Sure, we had a little motivation at the beginning, it translated to the football field, our kids responded, played physically. Quincy has some good running backs that we had to stop and contain, and we did a pretty good job of holding them to not so many big runs.”
Quincy (5-1) got on the board with a 14-yard run from Jaylen Parks, but Cam Cerussi hauled in a pretty pass from Jimmy Donovan (8-of-10 for 112; two TDs) for seven yards over the middle. Cerussi and Donovan put the nail in the coffin with five seconds remaining in the first half by connecting for the second time for 34 yards to essentially finish things off with a dominating 34-7 halftime lead.
Quincy tried to rally with a 17-play drive to open the second half that ate up 10:09 of the third, but Scituate was not nearly done scoring.
Cerussi finished with three touchdowns with a 70-yard kick return and Foley finished it off with a 77-yard scamper up the left sideline and went in untouched for the final score.
“The defense played great, and we got out of the gates like we like to. Up 34-7 and they take 12 minutes off the clock – we were good, it was beneficial,” said Devine. “Credit to them, they kept fighting and never gave up, but this was a big game. Somehow, some way, we have a big game next week against North Quincy, if we can take care of business there, then we are playing for the league title hopefully.”