Bears, Bucs to battle for Cranberry

November 3, 2012

By John Connolly, Boston Herald

BUZZARDS BAY -— Mass. Maritime Academy leading rusher Barry Reopell glanced across the room at the coveted wooden cranberry scoop, the Holy Grail for today’s 34th annual Cranberry Bowl between defending champion Bridgewater State (8-1, 5-1 NEFC) and the host Buccaneers (5-3, 4-2 NEFC) at Clean Harbors Stadium.

“Ever since I was 12 years old, I’ve been told to play the game like it’s your last game,” said the senior out of Dennis-Yarmouth High, who has 654 yards and five touchdowns. “It’s coming up fast.

“The Cranberry Bowl is always a great way to end the season. I won’t lie to you: I’ve been looking toward Bridgewater all season. It’s going to be intense out there.”

Justin Cruz is a senior linebacker and one of five co-captains on the visiting Bears. He is eager to lug the scoop the 33 miles back to Bridgewater.

“I first heard about it when I came here my sophomore year, and really what hit home for me was the senior class, realizing what it meant to them,” said Cruz, a Dartmouth High product. “Basically, there’s a lot of meaning behind it, especially it being my last one.”

Last year’s game MVP Mike McCarthy, a junior quarterback from Edgartown, leads the current Bears in both rushing (608 yards, 11 touchdowns) and passing (58-of-114, 731 yards, six TDs, four INT). His counterpart, MMA junior Mike Stanton of Quincy, has re-written the Bucs record book by hitting 178-of-280 for 2,377 yards and 16 touchdowns.

This rivalry took a turn in 2010, when Mass. Maritime snapped a 13-game Cranberry losing streak with a 23-7 win.

“We let our little brother push us all over the field and they took our scoop away,” said Bears coach Chuck DeNune. “We’ve been talking about this being a big game for the last couple of years.”

The Bears, led by the third-ranked scoring defense (14.4) in the NEFC, is 4-0 on the road. Mass Maritime tops the NEFC in total offense (552.8 yards) and are 3-0 at home.

“We’ll be ready to play. We want Bridgewater State at their best. We want to be at our best. We want it no other way,” said Mass Maritime coach Jeremy Cameron.