MIDDLEBORO — On Friday, the varsity Middleboro Football team beat East Bridgewater 21-6 to improve to a 3-1 record this season, thanks in part to a strong defense and an acrobatic touchdown run from senior captain Nate Goodine.

The Middleboro home game started with a moment of silence for the late Angelo AJ Lapanna III, who was a former Middleboro high school football player before serving in the military and then working as a police officer in Middleboro. Middleboro students also wore pink outfits to the game to raise awareness for breast cancer.

The game was at a deadlock for most of the first half, with neither team scoring despite going for it on fourth down multiple times. Middleboro converted their first fourth down attempt but wasn’t able to move the chains on their second attempt. Middleboro coach Patrick Kingman said that his team’s defense made him feel confident not punting on fourth down.

“We have a lot of confidence in the eleven guys who play on defense,” Kingman said. “Our [defensive coordinator] always tells me, ‘hey go for it. Keep the ball, if we get it we get it, if not we’ll bail you out.’”

Several seconds before the end of the first half, Middleboro finally broke through and went up 7-0. Several minutes into the third quarter, Middleboro scored again, bringing the score to 14-0.

On Middleboro’s next possession, the Sachems fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the East Bridgewater Vikings. However, a strong performance by Middleboro’s defense meant the Vikings went four and out and Middleboro got the ball back.

“Our defense has pretty much bailed us out all season long,” Kingman said.

For Middleboro’s third and final touchdown, senior Nate Goodine broke two tackles, spun acrobatically, and ran into the end zone.

In the fourth quarter, the Vikings got on the scoreboard with a touchdown pass, thanks in part to a pass interference call against Middleboro earlier in the drive. East Bridgewater then tried to go for two points, but failed to convert, leaving the score at 21-6.

Kingman said that penalties were a particular issue for Middleboro.

“Our penalties were outrageous today. It just doesn’t look like the team that’s normally here,” Kingman said. “We need to control our emotions a little bit better, and make sure we’re not hitting people out of bounds or saying things to other players.”

“We’ll handle it,” Kingman added.

Neither team was able to score after that, and the game finished with a Middleboro victory.

“I don’t think right now we’re offensively where we need to be to make a run at something,” Kingman said. He explained that Middleboro “controlled the football in the second half” but the team wasn’t able to “put enough points on the board.”

Kingman said that the team had a lot to work on going into next week’s away game against Norwell, including improving their pass defense and cutting down on penalties.

“This is a really good group of kids,” Kingman said.