Diman football attempts comeback, but falls short of Southeastern in Mayflower matchup
FALL RIVER— They came close, but in the end, it wasn’t to be for Division 5 No. 36 Diman Friday night.
Trailing Division 5 No. 33 Southeastern 17-12 in the closing minutes, the Bengals (1-5) brought it all the way to the Hawks’ (3-3) 35 yard line before being pushed slightly back then coming up just short on a fourth and four pass to wide receiver Cash Richards, turning the ball over and allowing the visitors to seal the Mayflower League win.
“I’m really proud of the way the kids played,” Diman coach Luke Bahry said. “I’m just really proud of the way they practiced all week, the way they competed today to the very last second and it says a lot about the direction we’re going in. I think we’re not getting the results we want, we’re tired of losing but they’re doing all of the right things and eventually it’s all going to come together.”
Despite the loss, the Bengals saw a strong performance out of quarterback Sam Perry, as the sophomore went 25-of-37 for 234 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while also carrying the ball five times for 14 yards.
“I think for a kid that’s only a sophomore and in his first year playing quarterback, he’s doing a hell of a job,” Bahry said. “I think he’s tough. I think he showed it the way he’s throwing it on the run and not giving up and hanging in the pocket, I think he’s doing a great job. For a kid that’s a first year quarterback, he already has over 1,000 yards on the year so I think he’s doing a great job and we’re going to keep chucking it if he’s going to keep playing like that.”
Wide receiver Josh Ramos had three catches for 34 yards and the first Diman touchdown while running back Devyn Senecal had three carries for a yard and the other touchdown, as well as three catches for 30 yards. Other notable performers include running back Alex Nguyen, who had 12 carries for 35 yards and four catches for 46 yards, and Richards, who had 11 catches for 63 yards.
“It’s tough because I’m sick of losing but I’m encouraged by how hard they’re playing,” Bahry said. “I’m encouraged how they fought until the very end, they played physical (and) the things we emphasized in practice they did, so I’m just hoping to get another win at some point.”
One of the biggest aspects Bahry said his team needs to improve on is the run game, as the Southeastern defense did well to hold them back on the ground.
“We took a little bit of the dink and dunks but we’ve just got to be able to run the ball better,” Bahry said. “They were giving us a light box and we weren’t able to do that. I think we found some things we liked but when your backs are against the wall and they’re giving you a five man box and we’ve got six, we’ve got to be able to run the ball a little bit (better) and we weren’t able to do that.”
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As for Southeastern coach Brian Chamberlain, he was impressed by his team’s effort and performance to seal the victory.
“I thought our kids really fought hard and dug deep here,” Chamberlain said. “We’re down a couple key players this week with a couple injuries, a couple guys who had family obligations and couldn’t be here and guys really stepped up and made plays when they had to."
In particular it was their resilience and determination of the guys to step up that really impressed him.
”I’m proud of the way the kids fought,” Chamberlain said. “They fought hard on defense. We’ve got some things to work on but we’re getting better.”
Quarterback Nick Levine was two-for-five for 96 yards and a touchdown while also having eight carries for 48 yards. Wide receiver Jaden Curtis had one catch for 56 yards and a touchdown while running backs Thomas Hustins and Mehki Gibson each had nine carries for 25 yards, with Hustins also recording a touchdown. Kicker Ryan Desmond went one-for-two on field goal attempts, hitting one from 34 yards out while missing the other from 22, and two-for-two on extra point attempts while also having an interception on defense.
Chamberlain credited the Bengals for being well prepared for the matchup.
“They’re a good football team, they’re a tough football team and they were ready for us and our offense,” Chamberlain said. “They were ready for us, they did a good job (so) credit to them and their kids, but our kids just kept on fighting,”
He also highlighted the defense for having one of their best outings of the season as Leo Mendes and Desmond both recorded interceptions while the Hawks were able to sack Perry twice.
“That was probably our best defensive performance all season long,” Chamberlain said. “Our guys were flying around (and) they’re tackling better. We’ve got some things we can work on there but again we were missing a couple guys and the guys that filled in did a really good job.”
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Diman dug into Southeastern territory on their first drive, getting all the way to the Hawks’ 25 yard line before Mendes picked off Perry to set up the visitors’ opening drive. Southeastern capitalized on the opportunity as they drove down field and Hustins was able to punch it in from the one yard line to give the Hawks the 7-0 lead with 2:19 left in the first quarter following the PAT by Desmond.
On their next drive in the second quarter, Southeastern again dug into Bengal territory but were held at the 17 yard line and they decided to turn to Desmond for the 34 yard field goal attempt, which he sent through the uprights to make it 10-0 Hawks with 3:21 left in the half.
After a pair of unsuccessful drives for both sides, Diman struck back late in the quarter as a 30 yard reception by receiver Kaidyn Dias brought the Bengals within 10 yards of the end zone and three plays later that’s exactly where Perry found Ramos from eight yards out to make it 10-6 with 0:27 left before the half. They were unable to make it 7 however as a bad hold on the kick left Logan Uon with a low, missed kick and the Diman went into the half down by four.
The real difference maker in the game came in the third quarter as Desmond picked off Perry and took it back to his own 44, from where Levine was able to find Curtis open up the middle and the senior used his speed to run in the 56 yard touchdown, making it 17-6 with 6:55 left in the third quarter after Desmond added the extra point.
“(It was) a huge touchdown,” Chamberlain said. “We got some momentum back there, it kind of made us feel like we could move the football again.”
Southeastern made it all the way to the Bengal five on their next drive before again being forced to go for three, but this time Desmond’s kick went wide and Diman took over deep within their own territory.
Determined to come back, the Bengals embarked on their longest drive of the evening, marching 95 yards down field before Senecal capped off the drive with a two yard run into the end zone to make it 17-12 with 6:23 left to play. They attempted to go for two as Perry tried to take it in himself but was stopped short and a holding call against the hosts negated the play.
After a three and out for the Hawks, Diman again embarked on another deep drive but came up just short as the catch from Richards on fourth and four fell two yards short of a first down and from there Southeastern was able to wind the clock down to seal the win.
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With the victory, the Hawks improve to .500 and will look to keep it rolling Thursday when they host Division 5 No. 19 Bristol-Plymouth (4-1) for their annual Homecoming game in another important MAC matchup.
“The next one is the next one,” Chamberlain said. “We’ll enjoy this for a couple hours and then we’re back at it Thursday against B-P for Homecoming and senior night, but it’s a good win for us. I think the kids know it was a good win for us, but we have more things we need to get better at.”
As for the Bengals, they head into a bye week before playing host to Division 8 No. 21 Upper Cape Tech (1-4) on Oct. 28.
“We’re off next week but it’s going to be a good week to keep on trying to get better,” Bahry said.
Taunton Daily Gazette and Herald News sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Diman football falls short of Southeastern in hard fought matchup
