Building a successful football program can be a long — and sometimes frustrating — journey.

But for the Pingree School football team and coach Chris Powers, five years is all it took for the Highlanders to reach a bowl game.

After demolishing Dexter Southfield, 46-0, Saturday, Pingree (7-1) was chosen to play in the Clark/Francis Bowl as part of the New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) playoffs. They'll face Brooks School (7-1) Saturday at Belmont Hill.

"This is a tremendous step for our program," said Powers. "The credit goes to these kids for buying into our system and what we do.

"When starting a program, it takes four years to get a foundation and in that fifth year, you try to be competitive. These kids took it a step further — and now we are playing for a title."

Pingree scored early and often Saturday, accumulating 27 points in the opening quarter and leading 40-0 at halftime.

"We were ready to play right away and we jumped on 'em early," explained Powers. "Then we just kept the ball on the ground and were fortunate to break some big plays."

Sophomore Kenny Adinkra and junior Brian Rogers gave the Highlanders the upper hand by way of the ground game, scoring two touchdowns apiece. Rogers reached pardirt on runs of 52 and 42 yards while Adinkra scored on runs of 22 and 25 yards. Will Walfield (5 yards) and quarterback Brendan Oliver (2 yards) also added rushing touchdowns.

The Pingree defense, which is surrendering a stingy 7.3 points per game over their last four games, earned its first shutout of the season. Kyle Jamerson returned a fumble 15 yards to the end zone while senior captain Charlie Taft blocked a punt on the first Dexter drive, then recovered it on the 5-yard line.

No. Shore 20, Minuteman 6: Pride won't be the only thing the North Shore Tech football team will be playing for on Thanksgiving Day.

After Northeast Regional upset 7-2 Chelsea Friday night (14-12), the Bulldogs took care of business by defeating Minuteman and setting up a potential three-way tie for the Commenwealth Small Conference championship.

"We'll be playing for a share of the league title (on Thanksgiving Eve against Northeast Metro Tech)," said head coach Paul Worth. "There is a huge tiebreaker system set in place, but mathematically we have a shot."

Saturday's rainy weather limited Tech superstar signal caller David St. Pierre to 2-of-8 passing for 51 yards, but running back Jesse Wilkins and fullback Keith Barrett gave the Bulldog offense a much needed lift in the second half. Wilkins finished with 127 yards on 12 carries, scoring on second half touchdowns of 66 and 6 yards.

Barrett, who had touched the ball only once this season heading into Saturday's match, finished with 27 yards on three carries — including a 5-yard touchdown, the first of his career. He also had a dozen tackles defensively at linebacker.

Lynnfield 21, H-W 3: Playing once again without injured quarterback Andy Duval, the Generals (2-7) could manage only a 28-yard field goal by Tucker White in the third quarter as Lynnfield wrapped up the Cape Ann League Small crown.

Dillon Keith, who filled in at QB for Duval, guided his team on a seven-minute drive to open the second half, leading to White's field goal. Keith led the team in rushing with 40 yards on 13 carries.

"We showed signs of life in the second half and played a lot better," explained head coach Andrew Morency. "We gave up a few big plays on defense, but I like the way the kids fought."