Oxford is 0-4 against Millbury since September of 2016 but things could change on Thursday. After each having a week off, the two teams will shake off the rust and duke it out at 10:00 a.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Things were looking good for Oxford after they put the first points on the board last Friday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They and Maynard were almost perfectly matched up, but the Pirates suffered a 15-14 defeat. While the Pirates didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Tigers 8-0 in the first quarter.
Despite the loss, Oxford got top-tier performance from Jack Grenier, who rushed for 96 yards and one TD on only 12 carries.
Meanwhile, it's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Millbury can now relate to. They took a blow against the Rams last Friday, falling 49-20. The Woolies haven't had much luck with the Rams recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Matteus Mateo and Joel Lachapelle. Lachapelle had a great game and rushed for 85 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries. Meanwhile, Mateo was balling out in the loss, rushing for 58 yards and one score, while also throwing for 201 yards and one TD.
Oxford's defeat dropped their record down to 3-7. As for Millbury, their loss dropped their record down to 4-6.
Thursday's contest might be decided on the ground. Oxford has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 204.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Millbury struggles in that department as they've been averaging 155.6 rushing yards. There's a good chance Thursday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Oxford was taken down by Millbury 48-7 in their previous matchup back in September of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mateo, who threw for 225 yards and four touchdowns on only 11 passes. Now that the Pirates know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
