The Massachusetts Boys HS varsity league is in ful swing, and one of the favorites, BC High, opened up with a 20-12 victory over Lincoln-Sudbury.

Both teams showed signs of rust in their first match, as there were a few handling errors, which were exacerbated by blustery conditions and cold temperatures.

BC High struck first, when ten minutes in senior scrumhalf George Haikal picked and dove for the line after a lengthy possession in LS territory.  

Moments later, sophomore center Tommy Rice ran a snappy line in the midfield to break the Lincoln-Sudbury defense and cover 25 meters before committing the final defender and offloading to junior Michael Bennet, who finished it all off for a try.

With ten minutes left in the first half, Bennett caught LS sleeping defensively and picked from the base of a ruck to score from 40 yards out for his second try of the day.

Senior Rob Lester converted one of those tries for a 17-0 BC High lead.

Nearing halftime, Lincoln-Sudbury started running their big forwards at the BC High line. This tactic was promising early on, but handling errors cost them. But in the second period it started to show dividends, as did the defensive pressure that led to Andrew Marshall breaking through for a try.

In the second half, the two teams bashed at each other, and made it for tough going offensively. Big carries from Wyatt Staton Todaro and Henry Marx gave BCH field position, but ultimately they would not score any more tries.  Lester slotted a penalty with 20 minutes to go in the game to make a three-score game at 20-5.  

Lincoln-Sudbury would try to mount a comeback on the shoulders of Junior Khalil Lynch, who broke the BC High line with 12 minutes to play, but ultimately the Eagles held on to win 20-12.

BC High coach Paul Carty said after the match, “LS is a athletic, well-coached team.  We were far from perfect, but we did enough to win and we did some things very well.  Now we need keep building and growing as a team.”