By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
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Photo by Jim Powers
Tomas Smaliorius (42), Michael Miller (54) and Erin Osona (55) make the stop of South Shore’s Joe Carey early in the third quarter of Saturday’s 22-8 loss.
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They were playing for pride. They may not have won the game – a 22-8 loss to South Shore on Saturday – but the varsity football team might have earned the “W” back on their helmets.
The coaching staff removed the “W” sticker from the side of the football helmets last week, a symbol of the “Whaler Pride” head coach Vito Capizzo believed the Whalers had been lacking this season.
On Saturday Nantucket played their best half of football all season to open the game against the Vikings at home. But in the second half they fell victim to penalties and turnovers as South Shore took the game, clinching the Mayflower Large League division title.
“For the first time this year they played with heart and emotion and I was real pleased with the way they played. We went in and scored first which was our game plan,” Capizzo said.
“In the second half, they showed up and we didn’t. We moved the ball and then we shoot ourselves in the foot and we can’t do that. You can’t have five interceptions and one fumble and all those penalties we had in the second half. That was the ball game.”
Nantucket fell to 1-7 overall this season and 0-3 in the league with two games remaining on the schedule against Cape Cod Tech and Martha’s Vineyard.
The last time the Whalers won as few as three games in a season was in 1967 (3-4-1), two years after winning only two games in 1965 (2-5-1). In Capizzo’s first year at the helm of the Whalers’ squad in 1964 Nantucket failed to win a single game, finishing the season at 0-4-2.
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Photo by Jim Powers
John O’Mara carries the ball supported by Eric Santos, center, and Eric Rogers throwing a block (on ground) during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against South Shore Voke. |
But on Saturday the Whalers showed that they have not given up on this season.
“This is the best they played all year, there is no question in my mind. I think the kickoff team hurt us in the first half and in the second half that punt hurt us,” Capizzo said.
The Vikings returned the Whalers’ first kick-off to the Nantucket 17-yard line, setting up a quick response score in the first quarter and a short punt in the second half put South Shore on the Nantucket 31-yard line, setting up the go-ahead score.
The Whalers fell behind in the second half and were forced to play catch-up, resulting in a number of interceptions and a lack of ball control.
Defensively, Nantucket held the Vikings to only 109 yards on the ground, the second-lowest total by an opponent this season (West Bridgewater ran for 105 yards in a Whalers’ victory). Senior co-captain Eric Santos had three sacks and defensive tackle Michael Miller was strong on the line. South Shore picked up only seven first downs in the game.
“They were pursuing the ball. I saw kids executing the play, staying in their lanes, putting pressure on the quarterback. I saw a lot of positive things,” Capizzo said.
But with generous field position – seven times starting a possession in Whaler territory – and nine penalties called on Nantucket, South Shore secured the win in the second half.
Geddes Paulsen connected on 10 of 21 passing attempts for 108 yards, four interceptions and a touchdown. The ball was spread around to six different receivers: John O’Mara (25 yards), Eric Rogers (20 yards), Robert Anderson (19 yards), Josh Holdgate (19 yards), Evan Hourihan (14 yards) and Casey Santos (8 yards).
On the ground O’Mara led the charge with 58 yards on 13 carries and Anderson picked up 24 yards on six carries.
Whaler pride
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Photo by Jim Powers
Casey Santos during Saturday’s game against South Shore Voke. |
The Whalers haven’t held a lead much this season and against the Vikings only maintained the advantage for under two minutes. While the trend had been to allow a touchdown on the second play of the game, Nantucket scored a touchdown on its own second play of the game on Saturday.
Following a 55-yard kick-off return by Ethan Farrell, the Whalers started their first possession at the South Shore 35-yard line. After a nine-yard pick-up by O’Mara, Paulsen connected with Anderson for the 26-yard touchdown pass over the middle. O’Mara ran the sweep to the right for the two-point conversion and the 8-0 lead.
But South Shore responded quickly and with a 50-yard punt return of its own, started its first drive on the Whalers’ 17-yard line. It took only three plays and two Whaler penalties before Matt Doyle scampered two yards into the end zone. On the fake kick attempt, holder Stephen Nicotera found Allan Burns in the end zone for the game-tying two-point conversion.
The Whalers’ defense played solid for the remainder of the first half, allowing only two first downs and sacking quarterback Mark Reale three times.
The offense had its opportunities to take the lead in the game, twice starting drives from inside Viking territory, but could not convert, turning the ball over twice on downs and twice on interceptions in the first half.
Despite the lack of offense, the Whalers had the momentum heading into the half after holding South Shore at bay in a key scoring opportunity. After the second interception of the half, the Vikings started a drive on the Whalers’ 42-yard line. But after two incomplete passes, Santos sacked Reale twice on the last two downs as time wound off the clock.
But on the Whalers’ first offensive possession of the second half, the game started to go downhill. Two penalties backed the Whalers up to their own 25-yard line. The ensuing punt traveled only six yards, setting the Vikings up on the Whalers’ 31-yard line.
On four plays South Shore found itself in the end zone on a 13-yard run by Joe Carey. Mark Decina added the point-after and the Vikings took the 15-8 lead.
The Whalers’ offense could not assemble much in the second half, and following an interception on their own 19-yard line, the Vikings added the insurance score on a quarterback sneak with seven minutes remaining in the game.
The last crusade
The Whalers will welcome Cape Cod Tech to the island on Friday afternoon for their final home game of the season. Kick-off is set for 4:30 p.m.
The Crusaders are coming off a 26-7 loss at home to Martha’s Vineyard. Last season in the game leading up to the Island Cup, the Whalers defeated the Crusaders handily 35-22, one of only two league wins last year. Cape Tech played without five senior starters, who had been benched for disciplinary reasons. The Crusaders lost 16 seniors last year to graduation, but have posted a 4-3 record overall this season through seven games.
“They are a very aggressive club defensively. Offensively they have a quarterback and a running back that can hurt you,” Capizzo said.
Quarterback Jason Mello, who started against the Whalers last November, returns as the senior starter this season for the Crusaders with James Hamilton in the running back slot.
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