Dorival leads Billerica by Lions at Fenway
BOSTON >> Much like David Ortiz, Dhaethmy “Judd” Dorival came through in the clutch Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
The Billerica junior running back rushed for over 100 yards while scoring a pair of touchdowns, including a pivotal 46-yard strike to open the second half, as Billerica beat Chelmsford, 27-13, in the 94th meeting between the schools.
“This rivalry is second to none,” said Billerica coach Duane Sigsbury, whose team now trails Chelmsford 59-30-5 in the all-time series. “We take it very seriously as Chelmsford does and we played in the best football/baseball park that I’ve even been in my life.”
Standing in the shadow of Fenway’s famed Green Monster, and trailing 13-7 at halftime, Dorival delivered a game-breaking performance. The 5-foot-8, 170-pound running back bolted 46 yards down the left sidelines for his second touchdown of the game moments into the second half. Kicker Daniel Venezia added the extra point to put the Indians (9-2) ahead 14-13.
Billerica never looked back, tagging on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to seal the victory.
“It feels great,” said Dorival. “I’m happy that we could end it on a great note. Coming off our game against Westfield we knew we had to pick something up, and that’s exactly what we did today. I’m happy that the seniors get to ride off into the sunset with the win.”
Dorival got Billerica’s ground game in motion early in the second quarter. Down 7-0, the junior helped cap a stellar 71-yard drive for the Indians with a splendid 8-yard sprint into the end zone. Venezia’s PAT tied the game 7-7.
Looking for open ground in a tight-fisted affair game such as this can always be an intimidating situation.
“It’s hard,” said Dorival. “You’ve got to think quick. You see a hole open up, you’ve got to hit it. I’m happy to be playing on the grass. It’s a lot easier to plant and go. I saw the hole open up and I had to let loose.”
He credited the play of his offensive line for giving him the necessary room to roam.
“It’s all up to them,” said Dorival. “I don’t think I could do anything without them. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just a lot of love.”
According to Sigsbury, his offensive line dug down deep.
“Our offensive line is immense,” said Sigsbury. “When we get down we have Steven Gentile and Judd back there, two juniors, two special players. We’re lucky to have the offensive line we do, but also the backs we have.”
This was Dorival’s first time at Fenway Park. He took time to soak up the surroundings with his teammates during their postgame celebration, before leaving the field with arms raised.
“I wish it was Gillette, but it’s beautiful,” he said. “This is something we’ve worked for all offseason. We had to do something big. It was a great season. We had a lot of hard teams to play, Methuen, Central Catholic. We took a loss to North Andover. We knew we had to bounce back. That’s exactly what we did.”