NORWELL – Scituate football star Willy Robinson knew that if there was a time for him to have a great game, it was going to be on Thursday evening. Let’s just say he delivered.
The senior captain turned in one of his best performances of the season with 16 carries for 90 yards rushing and a trio of touchdowns. He also added a punt return for a score, as Scituate erupted for a 41-6 rout of neighboring rival Norwell.
“We really thought for us, we wanted to do a better job of running the ball to set up the pass,” said Scituate coach Herb Devine. “Usually, our offenses, sometimes we throw the ball, and really the way we’ve always played it is (seeing) what they are going to do with us, because you sometimes never know with how teams are going to line up. The focus was to run the ball tonight, and I thought we did a good job.”
Entering Thursday night’s matchup, the primary question Devine and his staff were asking themselves was how to contain Norwell’s bruising ground-and-pound style, most notably senior running back Wiliam Bostrom.
The Sailors simply decided to establish the run themselves, with Robinson shouldering the load early. The senior scampered for touchdown rushes of 11 yards and four yards in the opening quarter, as Scituate constructed a 14-0 advantage.
The Sailors opened their playbook late in the second quarter, as junior quarterback Jonny Donovan dumped a screen pass off to Grayson Foley. After shedding a few tackles, the sophomore broke free for a 24-yard touchdown reception, stunning the crowd as Scituate pulled further ahead at 21-0 with 3:06 before the break.
It got even worse for Norwell when Lawson Foley snagged an interception returned to the Norwell 35-yard-line with 2:15 to go. Robinson soon scored his third touchdown with a 10-yard rush in the waning ticks of the second quarter to make it a 28-0 game.
After the Sailors forced a punt early in the second half, Robinson’s banner night continued. The senior corralled the kick, then danced his way up the sidelines for an 85-yard return for a score, and Scituate was off and running with a 35-0 edge.
“That was actually a reverse play,” said Robinson. “I catch it, then I reverse the field. But I saw the lane open up. Watch it back, I mean, I think our blockers did a pretty phenomenal job there. They created the runway. I just went up the sideline, and I took it.”
Donovan completed 9-of-12 pass attempts, finishing with 110 yards and the touchdown pass to Grayson Foley, while Lawson Foley added a pair of interceptions for Scituate.
Norwell was forced to give it a go without starting quarterback Jack Luccarelli, who continues to work back from injury. The Clippers (2-1) also saw their second-stringer with junior Keegan O’Hare exit the game in the second quarter after sustaining a big hit on a completion. As a result, they leaned on Bostrom (17 carries, 67 yards rushing), and the senior accounted for his school’s lone score with a 2-yard run midway through the third quarter.
“We’ve been practicing for this all week,” said Robinson. “We thought it was going to be a little bit rainier than it was today. So, we knew it was going to be a big run day. I mean, the boys up front contributed. The holes (were open), right off the bat, I knew it was going to be a good day. The pulls, everything, we were clean today… I was just a part of the machine.”
