By Jeff Slovin, Contributing Writer
Leominster – The Central Mass. Division 2A champion Marlborough High School Panthers fell to the undefeated Western Mass. champion Falmouth High School Clippers, by score of 27-20 in a state Division 2A semi-final playoff game. The game was played Nov. 19 at Doyle Field in Leominster.
After a first quarter touchdown by Falmouth, Marlborough got on the board in the second quarter with a touchdown run by quarterback Evan Schmidlein. The Panthers followed that up with a touchdown by Luke Goulet, taking a 13-7 lead, and becoming the first team this season to have a lead over Falmouth at any point in a game. The lead lasted just 4 plays, and by the third quarter Falmouth had run the score to 27-13.
The Panthers continued to battle, and managed a late touchdown by Owen Cappadona with 2:27 remaining in the game, but were unable to get another scoring opportunity once Falmouth recovered an attempted onside kick.
Falmouth advances to play the Northern Mass. champion, Marblehead, in the State Division 2A championship game, which will be played December 3 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.
Marlborough, now 8-3, will wrap up their season on Thursday with their annual Thanksgiving Day game against Hudson.
