Nathan Zexter, Bishop Stang chase their first road win of the fall Thursday at Mashpee, 4 p.m.

DARTMOUTH Bishop Stang senior Nathan Zexter ran for 651 yards in a three-game stretch this fall, and Thursday afternoon he carries the Spartans into Mashpee chasing the team's first road win of the season.

Stang (3-6) plays at Mashpee (5-4) at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at Mashpee Middle-High School in a nonleague game outside the MIAA tournament, according to both teams' MaxPreps schedules and Stang's Arbiter Live page. The Spartans come in off a 42-8 home win over Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech on Nov. 5, the final entered on MaxPreps, and all three of their wins have come at Hugh Carney Stadium.

By The Boston Globe's weekly leader lists, Zexter ran for 270 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-28 loss at Bishop Fenwick on Sept. 25, then 256 yards and four scores in the 35-12 win over Arlington Catholic on Oct. 2. Against Cathedral on Oct. 9 he went for 125 yards with touchdown runs of 1, 6 and 11 yards, kicked a 19-yard field goal and added two 2-point conversions in a 40-18 win.

The Globe's preseason preview named Zexter (No. 15), Richard Riccio (No. 44) and Amir Cartagena (No. 27), all seniors on the team's MaxPreps roster, as the backs expected to carry the ball in Stang's Power I after the graduation of three-year starting quarterback Brock Winslow and the team's top three rushers.

Coach Dennis Golden, in his 10th season at Stang, put the weight on that senior class before the opener. "We have a really strong core of seniors, and I think the strength of our team is the strength of their unity," Golden told the Globe in September.

Senior Jason Campbell (No. 2) runs the offense at quarterback after serving as the backup, according to the preview, which named seniors Luke Vigeant (No. 5) and Brayden Furtado (No. 22) at receiver. The MaxPreps roster lists junior Colin Sullivan (No. 7), at 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, at receiver and cornerback and senior Alen Buissereth (No. 8) at running back and cornerback. Up front, senior Josh Oliveira (No. 66, 6-foot, 225 pounds) and senior lineman and linebacker Thomas Guenette (No. 54, 5-foot-11, 210) give Stang the experience the Globe pointed to in September.

How Stang got to 3-6

Stang opened with three losses, 14-7 to Dartmouth, 42-14 at Old Rochester and 36-28 at Bishop Fenwick, then won back-to-back home games over Arlington Catholic, 35-12, and Cathedral, 40-18, by its Arbiter Live schedule. Three losses followed, 22-0 to Archbishop Williams, 35-15 to Apponequet and 20-17 at Cardinal Spellman, before the win over Greater New Bedford. Stang plays in the Catholic Central League and finished 28th in the MIAA's final Division 5 power rankings at 2-6, outside the tournament field.

The Spartans have averaged 39 points in their three wins, and two of their three road losses, at Fenwick and Spellman, came by eight points and three. A win Thursday would give them their second two-game winning streak of the fall and their first win away from North Dartmouth.

Mashpee: size up front and a dual-threat quarterback

Mashpee coach Matt Triveri came into his 22nd season with a 175-59 career record, by the Globe's Division 7 preview, and an entire backfield to replace after a 7-3 season. "There's talent here," Triveri told the Globe. "We'll be able to match up athletically with anyone we play. We have size up front, it's just going to come down to how many mistakes we make."

The Falcons' MaxPreps roster backs him up, listing senior CJ Jennings (No. 75) at 6-foot-1 and 330 pounds, senior Keneil Mattis (No. 63) at 260, senior Clifford Wieden (No. 73) at 250 and junior Cannon Miskiv (No. 66) at 6-foot-3 and 275, and all four are listed on both lines.

Junior Anthony Foss (No. 5) took over at quarterback this fall. "He's a dual threat with an enormous arm," Triveri said in the preview, which named seniors Aarian Brown (No. 3), at 6-foot-4 and 194 pounds on the roster, and Jacoby Spinola (No. 1), at 6-foot-1, as his targets out wide. Sophomore Benton Davies (No. 4) and senior Jayden Williams (No. 9) line up in the backfield with senior fullback Aiden Amaral (No. 22).

Mashpee opened with a 38-12 win at Martha's Vineyard and scored at least 38 points in four of its five wins, beating Upper Cape Cod Tech 45-14, Sharon 50-18 on the road and Burncoat 46-35, with a 26-0 shutout at Carver in between, by its MaxPreps schedule. Its losses came at Dennis-Yarmouth, 20-6, and at home to Randolph, 35-20, and Cohasset, 35-0. Seeded 13th in Division 7, the Falcons lost 22-14 at No. 4 Northbridge in the first round on Nov. 6.

Bishop Stang and Mashpee, side by side (results through Nov. 6)

	Bishop Stang	Mashpee
Record	3-6	5-4
League	Catholic Central	South Shore, Tobin division
Home and road	3-3 at home, 0-3 on the road	2-2 at home, 3-2 on the road
Points scored and allowed	198 and 207	245 and 191
Per game	22.0 scored, 23.0 allowed	27.2 scored, 21.2 allowed
Last game	Won 42-8 over Greater New Bedford, Nov. 5	Lost 22-14 at Northbridge, Division 7 first round, Nov. 6
Postseason	28th in the final Division 5 power rankings, not in the field	No. 13 seed in Division 7
Offense	Power I	Multiple
Player to watch	Nathan Zexter, senior: 651 rushing yards and 10 scores from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9	Anthony Foss, junior quarterback
Head coach	Dennis Golden, 10th season	Matt Triveri, 22nd season
Last year	5-6	7-3
Common opponents	None	None
Last meeting	Mashpee 46, Bishop Stang 14, Sept. 19, 2008	Mashpee 46, Bishop Stang 14, Sept. 19, 2008

The per-game figures and Stang's 207 points allowed are our math from the posted scores. MaxPreps lists the Cathedral game as 40-12, which puts Stang's points allowed at 201 there, while Stang's Arbiter Live page and the Globe have it 40-18.

Our read on the matchup

In our analysis, Stang's Power I runs straight at the strength Triveri described, a Mashpee front that goes from Jennings at 330 pounds to Miskiv at 275, so the first quarter will show whether Zexter can find the room he had in his three-game run. Going the other way, Stang has held four of its last five opponents to 22 points or fewer, and Foss throwing to two receivers listed at 6-foot-1 and taller is the test for Sullivan, Buissereth and the Spartans' secondary. Mashpee has not played since Nov. 6, and Stang plays its first road game since Oct. 30.

A series that last met in 2008

MaxPreps' all-time results list five meetings between the schools from 2004 to 2008, with Mashpee holding a 3-1-1 edge: a 28-28 tie in 2004, Mashpee wins in 2005 and 2007, a 15-0 Stang win in 2006 and a 46-14 Mashpee win on Sept. 19, 2008, the last time they played.

Kickoff

Kickoff is 4 p.m. at Mashpee Middle-High School, 500 Old Barnstable Rd., Mashpee, by Stang's Arbiter Live schedule and both teams' MaxPreps pages; all three listed 6:30 p.m. earlier Thursday morning. South Coast 360 will post the final tonight.

What comes next

Stang closes its season at Bishop Feehan on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 6 p.m. at McGrath Stadium in Attleboro, by its Arbiter Live schedule. GoFan lists that game as Feehan's senior night, with $6 general admission online and at the box office. Mashpee finishes on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, at 10 a.m. at Sandwich.

Stang's full schedule and results are on our Bishop Stang football page, and every South Coast final is on the Friday Night Scoreboard.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.