Benji Baptiste scores three times as Old Rochester beats Somerset Berkley 42-7

SOMERSET Benji Baptiste ran for three touchdowns in the first half, Old Rochester scored on four of its five first-half possessions, and the Bulldogs beat Somerset Berkley 42-7 on Friday night, Oct. 30, at Hanson Memorial Stadium in Somerset.

The win was the fourth straight for Old Rochester, which is 7-1 with one regular season game left. The Bulldogs came into the night seventh in Division 6 in the MIAA power rankings released Friday, and the MIAA takes the last scores for its brackets this weekend.

A fast start

Baptiste took the opening kickoff, burst past midfield and was pushed out of bounds at the Somerset Berkley 9, according to the JJ Silvia Broadcasting stream of the game. On the second play of the drive the junior ran in from 6 yards out, and the extra point made it 7-0 with 11:04 left in the first quarter.

The Raiders went three and out, and a penalty on the punt return left Old Rochester at its own 28. Baptiste ran for 13 yards and then 12 to move the Bulldogs into Somerset Berkley territory, and two plays later he went straight up the middle, cut outside into open field for a 37-yard touchdown run. It was 14-0 with 6:35 left in the quarter.

A Somerset Berkley punt pinned Old Rochester at its own 13 on its next drive. Matt Tobin broke loose for a run of more than 40 yards to the Raiders 36, but a holding penalty left the Bulldogs facing third and 17. Junior quarterback Connor Nelson found his tight end wide open up the seam for a 28-yard touchdown pass, and Old Rochester led 21-0 with 23 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Raiders answer

Somerset Berkley took over at its own 10 for its best drive of the night. Gavin Gooch picked up a first down to open the second quarter, Mason Benjamin scrambled 38 yards down the right sideline into Old Rochester territory, and Benjamin completed an 11-yard pass for another first down. On fourth down from the 9, after a Raiders timeout, Benjamin threw to Gooch, who made a move after the catch to get into the end zone. The extra point capped a 90-yard drive and made it 21-7 with 5:54 left in the half.

Old Rochester answered in three plays. A kickoff out of bounds gave the Bulldogs the ball at their own 35, Nelson kept for 5 yards, and Baptiste ran twice, the second time shedding a tackle in the open field for his third touchdown. The extra point made it 28-7.

Facing fourth down with under three minutes left in the half, the Raiders lined up to punt and tried a fake pass that was batted down. Old Rochester took over in Somerset Berkley territory, where a 10-yard Baptiste run and another carry moved the ball inside the 10. After the Bulldogs used their last timeout with 25 seconds left, the Raiders made a goal line stand: Brett Irizarry dropped Baptiste short of the goal line, and Baptiste was stopped inside the 1 on third and goal as time ran out. Old Rochester led 28-7 at halftime.

Tobin takes the third quarter

Somerset Berkley drove to the Old Rochester 44 to start the second half, but the Bulldogs stopped three straight runs for about a yard in all, a quick screen pass fell incomplete, and the Raiders punted.

Baptiste brought the punt back to near the Old Rochester 30. Nelson handed to Tobin, and nobody touched him on the way to the end zone. The extra point made it 35-7.

The Bulldogs held again on the next series, and Baptiste caught the punt near midfield, cut back across the field and returned it 18 yards to the Somerset Berkley 27. After a run for no gain, Tobin went the 27 yards for his second touchdown, and the extra point made it 42-7 with 3:27 left in the third quarter. Old Rochester made all six of its extra points.

The broadcast crew put Baptiste near 200 all-purpose yards by the middle of the third quarter. Tobin, the Bulldogs' fullback and a captain, scored both of his touchdowns in the third quarter.

A long drive to finish

After one more Raiders punt, Old Rochester took over inside its own 35 late in the third quarter and kept the ball for the rest of the game. Coach Bryce Guilbeault went deep into his bench, with nearly 10 different running backs getting a touch by the broadcast crew's count, and a backup quarterback finished it. The drive reached first and goal at the Somerset Berkley 8 with under four minutes to play, and the Bulldogs ran out the clock from there with a kneel down at the end.

For Somerset Berkley, on its Senior Night, Benjamin made several tackles on that last drive, and Tyrese Brown and Irizarry also made stops. Gooch caught the Raiders' only touchdown pass.

What the win means

Old Rochester is 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the South Coast Conference, first in the league standings MaxPreps lists. Its only loss came Oct. 2, 35-14 to Foxborough, and in four games since then it has outscored opponents 151-45. For the season it has scored 247 points and allowed 119.

Baptiste ran for five touchdowns in a 53-18 win over Bishop Fenwick on Oct. 16, according to The Boston Globe's Week 6 leaders list. After a 13-12 win at Dartmouth on Sept. 24, decided on an extra point after a Baptiste touchdown run with 23 seconds left, Guilbeault told the Globe, "We're resilient. We're tough."

In each of the MIAA's eight football divisions, the top 16 teams with at least three wins and seven games played qualify for the state tournament. The football cutoff is Saturday, Oct. 31, and the brackets come out at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, the MIAA said in its fall tournament schedule.

Somerset Berkley is 1-6 and was 28th in Division 4 in Friday's rankings. Its only win came Oct. 2, 42-22 over GNB Voc-Tech at home. The Raiders have two consolation games ahead before Thanksgiving, with opponents still to be set, the broadcast crew said on the stream.

What comes next

Both teams close the regular season on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 26, at 10 a.m. Old Rochester hosts Apponequet at David S. Hagan Stadium, and Somerset Berkley hosts Case at Hanson Memorial Stadium.

For the rest of the week's games and storylines around the South Coast, see our Week 8 preview.

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