By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
There was no stopping the Blue Hills running game Monday afternoon. The Whalers football team allowed 333 yards on the ground to the visiting Warriors in the 38-6 loss.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Football action at home against Blue Hills on Monday. |
Rainy weekend weather pushed the Whalers Friday night home opener back to a Monday afternoon match-up. Nantucket (0-3) welcomes the bye week this weekend and will focus on attacking the ball on defense and more aggressive blocking on the lines in preparation for the second half of the season.
The Whalers will open the Mayflower Small League schedule at home on Friday, Oct. 10 against Diman.
“I think if you go from the first game to the third game, I saw quite a bit of improvement. Now what we need to do is have repetition, attack and fire out. We are only a couple touchdowns away from being a real good team,” head coach Vito Capizzo said.
In the second straight meeting against a Mayflower Large League opponent, the Whalers were able to move the football against Blue Hills, especially through the air, collecting a season-high nine first downs and driving into Warrior territory five times. The defense kept the game close at 14-6 in the second quarter, but late in the half ran out of gas and allowed the Warriors two quick scores to close out the half with a substantial lead.
Blue Hills did not throw a single pass in four quarters of football. The double threat in the backfield of senior fullback Kevin Murphy and senior running back Fred Fortes was more than the Whalers could handle. Murphy carried the ball 22 times for 226 yards and all five touchdowns in three quarters. Fortes had 14 carries for 77 yards and converted three two-point conversion opportunities.
“When you are moving the ball as well as they did, you don’t have to throw the ball,” Capizzo said. “They made it very simple. We are going to run at you until you stop us.”
Recognizing the Warriors were not going to throw the ball, the Whalers sat in a 6-2 defense for most of the game, but could not defend against the consistent off-tackle plays.
“We don’t have any line surge offensively or defensively. We are not attacking. We are waiting for them to come to us and as a result, they are getting blocked out or double-teamed,” Capizzo said.
On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Chris Welch completed eight of 14 passing attempts for 101 yards to four different receivers - Troy Sullivan (50 yards), Matthew Marrett (27 yards), Josh Butler (20 yards) and Rasheed Smith (4 yards) as the Whalers moved the football with some success against Blue Hills.
“We know we can throw the ball. We certainly have the receivers, but we are still not running the proper routes,” Capizzo said.
The running attack of Jamie Viera (11 carries, 21 yards) and Smith (5 carries, 19 yards) kept the Warriors slightly off balance.
“I was pleased with the way our kids moved the ball in certain situations. We tried to open it up a little bit,” Capizzo said.
With Smith and Viera in the backfield, Welch had more protection and subsequent time to throw the football. The Whalers also threw in a few wrinkles on offense, attempting the halfback pass from Viera on three occasions. None of the passes were completed.
The Whalers took the football on the opening kick-off and picked up one first down on a 12-yard pass play from Welch to Butler over the middle, but could not march further than their own 40-yard line.
Blue Hills took the ball on their own 22-yard line following a block in the back penalty and drove 78 yards down the field on alternating runs from Murphy and Fortes. The Whalers slowed down the running game at the 20-yard line with solid inside plays from tackles Mack McGrath and Zatrick Pinkney. But on fourth-and-eight, Murphy broke outside to pick up the first down and set the Warriors up for the score.
“We had them a couple times, third down and long yardage and if we had made a couple of those stops, we would have had the ball back,” Capizzo said.
Blue Hills led 8-0 after the first quarter and added another score on a 49-yard drive on the first possession of the second quarter. The Whalers stopped the two-point conversion, but the Warriors held the 14-0 advantage.
Playing in front of the home crowd, the Whalers offense clicked into gear. Viera rushed for his largest gain of the game with 11 yards on a sweep to the outside. With a first down near midfield, Welch hit Sullivan in stride down the right sideline for the 39-yard pick-up. Smith and Viera each gained six yards on carries inside the red zone and Viera capped off the drive with a counter play off tackle into the endzone for the score. The two-point conversion play fell incomplete, but the Whalers cut into the deficit at 14-6.
The Warriors weren’t about to lay back and let the Whalers get into the game. Against a tired Nantucket defense, Blue Hills marched down the field to score twice in under four minutes to take the commanding 30-6 lead at the half.
The Warriors ate up most of the clock in the third quarter with a grinding 70-yard drive for another touchdown.
Nantucket assembled a 71-yard drive in the fourth quarter against the Blue Hills second team defense. Welch connected on four passes to Sullivan (33 yards), Marrett (11 yards and 16 yards) and Smith (6 yards). But on first-and-goal from the 9-yard line, Viera took the hand-off to the 1-yard line and was stripped just before crossing the goal line. Blue Hills recovered the loose football in the endzone for the touchback.
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