The Doherty Memorial Highlanders will head out to challenge the Leominster Blue Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
While Highlanders fans will have to keep waiting for their team to come home, they shouldn't be too worried about the road trip considering the result of Friday's season opener. They took down Algonquin Regional 31-14 on Friday.
Meanwhile, Leominster faced Milford in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Leominster slipped by Milford 36-35.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Leominster to victory, but perhaps none more so than Osiris Lopez, who threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.2 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 107 yards on only 11 carries. Lopez didn't just play on offense: he also made a tackle and defended a pass in addition to snagging an interception. Another back making a difference was Xavier Cora, who rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Leominster was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 234 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 170 rushing yards in eight consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Leominster's defensive line made their presence known, laying out the QB three times. Leading the way was Aramis Reyes with two sacks.
Doherty Memorial won a match that couldn't have been any closer when the teams last played back in September of 2023, slipping by Leominster 28-27. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Cora, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and also picked up 37 receiving yards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Doherty Memorial still be able to contain Cora? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
