It was a bittersweet end to the 2018 football season for the Gloucester Dukes on Friday, as the team’s second consecutive playoff appearance resulted in a 34-10 loss to the Sun Devils of Salem High School.
Gloucester had secured the #7 seed going into the matchup and the first half offered a competitive contest; however, the Dukes fell apart in the second half and made an early exit from postseason play.
The Dukes won the toss and deferred to the second half, opting to let their defense set the tone. Gloucester’s defense looked up to the task, forcing a fourth down for the Salem offense. Unfortunately for Gloucester this would not hold, as the Sun Devils converted the fourth down for a touchdown to go up, 7-0.
Gloucester took over and, despite losing their top two running backs to ACL tears in back-to-back weeks, committed to the ground game. Alessandro Brovelli and Parker Jowers showed out in this game, combining for over 200 yards rushing in strong individual perfo...