Cidado completed 12/18 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns and added 60 yards on 6 rushes and a touchdown. Running back Matt Berksza carried the ball 17 times for 104 yards and a touchdown and also was on the receiving end of one of Cidado's touchdown passes.
Both defenses came out strong, with Foxboro forced to punt on their first three drives and Oliver Ames stopped on a 4th and 1 situation and punted on their next drive. It wasn't until the second quarter and the Tiger's third drive of the game that they were able to get into a groove.
"I felt once we kind of gained our footing and let the game speed kind of settle down, I thought we did an outstanding job," OA head coach Jim Artz said.
After having just attempted one pass on their first two drives, OA sucked in the Foxboro defense with a play action that saw Cidado connect with Cooper Johnson for a 28 yard gain to the Foxboro 35 yard line. After a short pass and a Berksza run up the middle, OA was faced with 3rd and 5 at the 30. Berksza took the hand off and went left for a 17-yard gain and on the next play, took it left again to the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. The two point conversion was successful as back up QB John McMillan rushed it in.
The Tigers came up with a huge turnover on their next defensive series after Foxboro running back Keeyon Neal couldn't handle the handoff and OA took over at the Foxboro 47. After Berksza carried one for 11 yards, Cidado rushed right for 22 yards. Three plays later, Cidado was able to find a leaping Andrew Callachan for a 10 yard touchdown. Mike Ferrara was able to throw the ball while being tackled to Johnson for the 2-point conversion and a 16-0 OA lead.
After Foxboro was able to convert a third and two with a 16 yard run by Luc Valanez into OA territory, OA captain Jake Fitzgerald came up with an interception off Foxboro QB Nolan Rogers. On OA's second play, on 2nd and 7 from their own 20, receiver Reid Starr took a backwards pass from Cidado and then launched a pass of his own to Callachan for a 35 yard gain. Cidado then completed three straight passes for 45 yards, the last being a 32-yard strike up the middle to Berksza for a touchdown. OA took a 23-0 lead into half.
"They basically outplayed us," Foxboro head coach Jack Martinelli said. "It's as simple as that. The game comes down to blocking and tackling and they did that better than we did."
Foxboro's defense started the second half strong, stopping OA on a 4th and 7 at the Warrior 15, but the offense wasn't able to get across midfield and was forced to punt. After two straight runs from Berksza and Cam Williamson, Cidado launched one deep down the left side line that was hauled in by sophomore Franklin Holgate for a 56 yard reception. Cidado kept it himself for a 10 yard scamper into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game, making it 30-0.
"He's an outstanding football player," Artz said of Cidado. "You can see the difference in his play from one year to the next. Last year he was a junior quarterback and now you see a world of difference in him this year as a senior. He played phenomenal and made very few mistakes. We were able to run and throw effectively."
Cidado's accuracy throwing the ball caused fits for Foxboro throughout the game and just when they seemed to figure it out, Cidado would take off on his feet for a big gain.
"He's that good," Artz said. "He can run and he can throw. It makes him very hard to defend and it makes us harder to defend when we can get it all functioning at once."
Foxboro was able to cash in on their best field position of the day - the Oliver Ames 25 yard line - on a fourth down play as Rogers connected with Balazs Busznyak on a slant route for a 25 yard touchdown. The two-point failed as Foxboro finished with just six points.
"The opportunities we had early on the get on the scoreboard, we squandered," Martinelli said. "They are a good football team so we had to make sure we put points on early and we weren't able to do that. They out played us from that point on."
Oliver Ames tacked on their final score with 7:44 left in the game when McMillan came in to replace Cidado. McMillan used three straight keepers - one for 7 yards, one for no gain, and then one for a 1-yard touchdown. Steven Scurti's extra point finished the scoring to make it 37-6.
Foxboro will look to bounce back as they host Sharon next Saturday night. The Eagles are 1-0 in the league coming off a 32-12 win over Canton.
Oliver Ames will put their undefeated record on the line against another undefeated team in neighboring Stoughton. Both teams sit at 3-0 and came away with impressive wins in their first divisional games.
"We're not where we want to be yet to be perfectly honest," Artz said. "I still think we can do a little bit better and we're going to have to because Stoughton is an excellent football team."