Dartmouth continued adding to its undefeated season record with its first playoff game win — but with the team’s narrowest margin yet, 34-27.

As of Friday, Dartmouth is the only undefeated team in the division. West Springfield, a previous undefeated rival, fell to North Attleboro earlier in the day. 

The Nov. 3 game against Doherty Memorial started as a stomp, with Dartmouth taking a strong early lead, scoring two back-to-back touchdowns before Doherty got on the board. 

Just before halftime, star running back Ray Gramlich showed off his defensive prowess with an unlikely bobbling interception, an already impressive play that Gramlich turned into a career highlight by then sprinting 60 yards into the endzone. 

The highlight play allowed Dartmouth to enter halftime with a cushy 20-point lead. But that comfort was tested in the third quarter. Doherty Memorial put up a couple quick touchdowns, including a punt-block-turned-fumble-return that surely shook Dartmouth’s confidence. 

“We started off hot, which was really nice, but we can’t keep giving up these points in the second half, that’s really going to kill us in the end,” said quarterback Jackson Hart. 

“We started fast like we usually do, they just never quit … tough kids on that football team from Doherty,” said Coach Rick White. “They just kept playing for four quarters.”

But Dartmouth hung onto its lead, keeping Doherty Memorial pinned into its own end zone for much of the final quarter, then securing a few first downs to run out the clock. 

“It’s a playoff game, so we all have fight,” Hart said. “We brought each other up when we were down, and that’s what kept us in the game.”

“Ray [Gramlich], we really rely on him to kill the clock and he’s a tough, tough runner,” White said. “It doesn’t matter how many points you win by, as long as you win.”

Dartmouth will continue on in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament to the round of 8. The win puts 6-seed Dartmouth up against 3-seed Milton High School next Thursday, Nov. 9, for an away game.

“It’s down to 8, so everybody’s stacked from here on in,” White said. 

“It’s definitely not going to get any easier, so we definitely got to get better as a team,” Gramlich said. “We’ve got a bunch of leaders that are ready to step up.”

Dartmouth began its season with a triumphant 40-0 victory against hometown rival Bishop Stang, and could not be stopped once they got going. They ended the season with another local conquest, against New Bedford High School, without losing a single game in between.

“[The undefeated record] means a lot, especially after COVID, it brings everyone together and it’s something to come outside for,” said fan Brian Polochick. “Winning cures all.”

“It’s bringing the football team up to the band’s level, in terms of dominance,” said fan Tom Crabbe. 

While the band heads to its first Grand Nationals tournament in Indianapolis soon, the football team hopes to end up in another state championship at Gillette Stadium. 

“End goal is the stateship, so that’s what we need,” Hart said. 

“We’re on to Milton — if that’s who we’re facing, then we’re ready,” Gramlich said.