WESTFORD — The No. 4 St. Mary’s football team dominated on both sides of the ball in the first half on its way to a 39-14 win over No. 2 Nashoba Valley Tech in the Division 7 North Sectional final on a rainy Friday night at Nashoba Valley Tech High School.
The win gives the Spartans their fourth sectional title in a row and their first under head coach Sean Driscoll.
“Its special,” Driscoll said. “The last time I was in a North final was 2014 in Winthrop. We came up short against Lynnfield and that was disappointing.
“Going into this year we had some guys coming back up front and we knew we could do some things so we made it our No. 1 goal to get back to the North final. We did that so it’s special.”
The Spartans play next Friday in the Division 7 state semifinal against South champion Cohasset at a site to be determined.
Jalen Echevarria had another great performance for the Spartans with 10 carries for 191 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Connor Donohue also had a great night on the ground with nine carries for 139 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
“He did great,” Driscoll said of Donohue. “He’s an all-around athlete. He has played some quarterback for us, he plays running back, and he’s a very good safety and he’s tough. Going into the game we wanted to give him the ball to take some pressure off our other backs and he did a nice job.”
The St. Mary’s defense was also solid in the win, allowing less than 100 total yards and recovering a fumble for a touchdown in the first half.
“They played phenomenal,” Driscoll said of his defensive front. “They did all of the things we asked them to do and that’s all you can really ask for in these horrible weather conditions.”
The Spartans got off to a quick start on the first possession of the game. Donohue took a run up the middle 55 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to put the Spartans ahead 6-0.
After a Vikings three-and-out St. Mary’s added another quick touchdown. Echevarria found space on a pitch to the left side and made a nice cut-back to beat a Nashoba defender for a 49-yard touchdown to put St. Mary’s ahead 14-0.
Echevarria added another long touchdown on the Spartans’ next drive, this time on a 62-yard run. The score put the Spartans ahead 20-0 in the first quarter after running only six offensive plays.
The Spartans added two more touchdowns in the first half. Donohue powered his way into the endzone on a two-yard run and Alec Colacitti scooped up a fumble for a 55-yard score to put St. Mary’s ahead 32-0 at the half.
With the lead, St. Mary’s was able to play its underclassmen for much of the second half and eat away the clock before earning a 39-14 win.
“We have a big game next week,” Driscoll said. “We have to prepare for it. I saw those guys play last night. It’s going to be tough but it should be fun and hopefully the weather is better too.”