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AUBURN, Mass. – Remember that movie "Groundhog Day"? Well, the Auburn High School football team is living that movie every week, which isn’t a bad thing for the Rockets.
Auburn dominated yet another opponent Friday night to kick off its Homecoming Weekend, shutting out the Grafton Indians, 27-0. Auburn improved to 8-0, completed its fourth shutout of the season and extended its overall winning streak to an impressive 16 games.
“They’re a really good team over there. They’re defense is strong, but we found our way. That’s what we do,” said Auburn running back Tyler Desjardins, who scored three touchdowns in Friday’s win.
But the game did not look so promising for the Rockets in its first possession against the 5-3 Indians. Auburn, which dominates teams on the ground, was stuffed at the beginning of the game by the formidable Grafton run defense.
“They’re an excellent defensive football team over there,” said Auburn head coach Jeff Cormier. “Their number 24 [Corey Charpentier] is as good of a defensive lineman as there is in the area. He’s a special player. I thought number 39 [Dillon O’Brien] and number 31 [John Coughlin], their linebackers, played real well.”
The Rockets were forced to punt after one first down, but they caught a huge break when Grafton fumbled the punt and Auburn recovered the ball at the 34-yard line. Desjardins then started his scoring party with a 1-yard touchdown halfway through the first quarter. The extra point was no good, but Auburn went ahead for good, 6-0.
Then at the beginning of the second quarter, Desjardins was at it again, taking a handoff from 25 yards out for another score. The two-point conversion was no good as Auburn led, 12-0.
Desjardins completed his touchdown hat trick with a 65-yard touchdown with 7:37 left in the first half. Running back Zach Clifford took the handoff for the two-point conversion, and the Rockets went ahead 20-0. It was Desjardins' seventh touchdown in two weeks.
“I just followed my fullback and line, and they opened up a perfect hole,” Desjardins said. “We made adjustments to their defense, and it worked. We broke away a few, the holes opened and it turned out good.”
The score stayed at 20-0 until the beginning of the fourth quarter when Auburn moved the ball down the field by passing, a rarity for the run-first offense.
Quarterback Drew Goodrich connected with wide receiver Nate Conway on a 34-yard pass, and fullback Bob Sivret did the rest, plowing up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown. The extra point was good, and Auburn went ahead, 27-0, cruising to victory.
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