Teeing up two rivalry games: Duxbury vs. Hingham and Tewksbury vs. Billerica

“We all want to win Friday and the best way to get ready for Duxbury is to practice as well as you have all season long. It’s about being prepared to play our best football against their best football.”

No. 17 Duxbury (2-1) hosts Hingham (3-1, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday in a Patriot Keenan battle on senior night. Last year, the Harbormen snapped an 18-game losing streak to Duxbury with a stunning 20-14 comeback win. Coming off a bye week, Duxbury’s leaders are laser-focused.

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“Everybody on the team, from sophomores to seniors, wants to get redemption,” said Duxbury senior captain Hank Frazier. “It’s not even about winning the football game, it’s about representing community. The name on the front of the jersey.”

A similar redemption arc is in play for No. 18 Billerica (4-0, 2-0) ahead of Friday’s rivalry bout with No. 16 Tewksbury (3-1, 1-1) on home turf. Tewksbury crushed Billerica, 35-0, last October, but the Indians had taken the previous three meetings, including a 29-20 victory in 2024 during which the program shifted to a double-wing rushing attack and never looked back.

While Billerica employs more passing concepts this year, this battle between blue-collar Merrimack Valley towns almost certainly will be won in the trenches.

“I don’t think anything can match the rivalry with [Chelmsford on] Thanksgiving, but right behind that is definitely Tewksbury,” said Billerica’s second-year coach Shawn Theriault, who scouted old matchups as Andover’s defensive coordinator in 2024.

“They’re similar towns with similar kids. I go back and watch the games in 2022, ’23, and ’24, and see how physical and intense they were. We weren’t ready for that physicality last year. We had a dose of reality and it was definitely a wake-up call.”

Behind a massive offensive line led by Prince Mahey (6 feet, 5 inches, 310 pounds), Jason Leipow (6-3, 300), Thomas Arsenault (6-2, 275), and tight end Marc Luther (6-1, 225), Billerica will look to establish the run against a Tewksbury program that went undefeated in league play last year. Luther and quarterback Jackson Gearin also are defensive leaders at linebacker, and Danny Venezia is a powerful tailback with a weapon for a leg that proved clutch in a 26-20 overtime win at North Andover this past Thursday.

Coming off the program’s first home loss in two years, a 28-21 defeat to MVC 2 leader Chelmsford, Tewksbury looks for star junior quarterback Will Harrison to lead a multiple offense.

“We’re still figuring out our identity on offense and trying to ramp up defensively,” said Tewksbury coach Brian Aylward. “We’ve got a lot of inexperienced kids [having graduated nine starters on both sides of the ball] and we learned a lot about their character last week.”

In his 15th year on staff and sixth as head coach, Matt Landolfi is employing a somewhat unconventional rotation at Duxbury. Quarterbacks Eamon Kane and Liam Murray alternate each series regardless of game flow, and the dual-threat passers have put up similar stats with senior Nate Reed (11 receptions, 171 yards, 2 TDs) and sophomore Pat Martin (9 receptions, 97 yards, TD) serving as their top targets.

Frazier, Colin Murray, and Cooper Farabaugh anchor the defensive line, and linebacker Alec Wood leads the team in tackles.

“As you play the first three or four weeks of the season, you’re getting ready for this type of game and this type of environment,” Landolfi said. “Hingham has a lot of size and talent up front. They’re a good matchup for us. We can’t really have any mistakes.”

The Harbormen opened the year with a dominant 35-0 win at Hanover, then dropped a 28-18 decision to rival Abington. Hingham’s defense didn’t allow a touchdown again last week, as Harvard-bound linebacker Cole Palek (38 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles) and Ronan O’Brien have been shutting down opponents.

Junior quarterback Liam Merrigan has passed for 350 yards and four touchdowns in his first varsity campaign, and junior tailback Justin Kosierowski has been on fire with 433 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. But the strength of the team, Byrne asserts, is up front, with senior captains Chris Kargbo and Will Shelsy holding down the offensive tackle spots and senior fullback Steve Smigliani plowing the road for Kosierowski and Riley Bello (225 rushing yards, 2 TDs).

“We go into this game with confidence . . . last year’s game has no bearing,” Byrne said.

As the captain of the wrestling team and the starting lacrosse goalie, Frazier has been part of some intense contests against Hingham.

What’s his favorite memory so far?

“That’s a good question,” Frazier said. “I’m hoping to build one [Friday].”

From the source Nate Weitzer can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @nweitzer7.