MATTAPOISETT — Whatever rust the Old Rochester Regional High School football team may have had coming off a bye week between the end of the regular season and first round of the MIAA Div. 5 postseason tournament was shaken off relatively quickly. 

On the way to a 42-0 win over Medway High School on Friday, Nov. 8, the Bulldogs put together a sequence that began with a punt pinning Medway to their 3-yard line. That quickly turned into a safety forced by the defense, then a 51-yard touchdown run by quarterback Gavin Martin nearly as soon as Old Rochester received the ball back. The three phases of the game harmonized to produce 9 points in the span of 17 seconds on the clock.

“Just complementary football,” head coach Bryce Guilbeault said. “That's how you're going to win in November.”

Now at 8-1 after the shutout win to open the postseason, Old Rochester is a fourth seed in the Div. 5 tournament. The team has scored 42 points in consecutive games.  

“We did execute well,” Guilbeault said. “It's just we were a little too loose early on, but I thought we played a complete game — offense, defense, special teams. It's hard to win obviously, especially in the playoffs. We’re happy to get the win.”

During the dominant victory, the Bulldogs did happen to accrue several penalties on both sides of the ball, including one flag that negated what would have been a 72-yard touchdown run for running back Jack Leconte. Feelings on the field between teams also became chippy — briefly but noticeably — once the deficit became insurmountable for Medway.

“It happens sometimes,” Guilbeault said. “Game kind of gets away.”

Martin, Leconte and running back Cameron Pepin ran in two touchdowns each, facilitated by “selfless football” played by the offensive line and fellow backs Tucker Roy and Devin St. Germaine, according to Guilbeault.

“Our backs run hard every week,” he said. “They all run hard. They all have different skill sets, but they run hard. The offensive line opens up a lot of holes.”

Roy, a linebacker on defense, also had an interception in the second quarter when Medway sought to convert a fourth down with 14 yards to go on Old Rochester’s side of the field.

Old Rochester will next host No. 12 seed Norton High School in the round of eight.

In the lead up to the round of 16 win against Medway, it was preached that the most important game of the week was the one the Bulldogs had that Friday night, according to Guilbeault.

“They knew that if they want to keep moving on, you’ve got to take care of business today, so I think they were motivated,” Guilbeault said. “They're sick of practicing after the bye week. They're happy to come out and play the game.”