I can't tell you how exciting it was to finally get back on a football field to play a real game. Roxbury Latin was dedicating their football field before the kick-off and had a good size crowd in attendance.  Even being an away game, our parents and supporters matched any enthusiasm the RL crowd could generate.

As you might expect, both teams were very tentative in the first quarter, getting use to the feel and pressure of a real game.  The MX 11 opened the scoring early in the second quarter with a quick pass from QB Cam Fries '22 and a nifty 12-yard catch and run by wide receiver Liam Connor '22.  Connor added the PAT for an early 7-0 lead.

There was never any doubt about the drive and determination of our defense, who came up with 2 huge goal line stands, causing turnovers inside our ten yard-line. But did continue to encounter real problems reading and adjusting to the RL field offense. The rest of the half was marred by some MX mistakes and a turnover that led to an RL tying score just before halftime, 7-7.  The defense struggling early was not something unexpected. Rebuilding the defense was a major priority in the pre-season since our defensive unit had graduated all four starting linebackers and both defensive ends from the previous two years.  
 
Throughout the second half the MX offense continually drove the ball on RL but always seemed to come up short of a TD. The defense continued to battle but gave up another touchdown in the third quarter and we trailed 13-7. Finally, midway through the fourth quarter, the MX offense gelled and drove the ball, finishing the drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass again from Fries to Connor to tie the score at 13-13. The next six minutes were probably the most intense and exciting of the game. RL again drove the ball to our red zone, but the MX defense rallied to stop them on the 11-yard line. From there, RL's field goal try was good to recapture the lead 16-13 with 57 seconds left in the game.  Undaunted by the challenge, the MX offense used the entire field (with QB Cam Fries scrambling twice) and all our receivers (Mark Conde '22, Eoin Morrissey '22, Nate Crozier '22 and Liam Connor) to move the ball to the RL 16-yard line with 7 seconds to go. Unfortunately, our tying field goal attempt was just wide right, and the final score ended 16-13. 

With all the first game jitters and mistakes, this game showed the grit and determination of this team and will pay tremendous dividends as the season goes on and we build on this performance. The offensive line (Peter Sleeper '22, Nick DeBruin '22, Pranav Natarajian '22, Kevin Ma '22, and Charlie Haight '23) deserves credit for their play throughout the game.

Our next game will be next Saturday, October 2nd at Lawrence Academy.