By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
They were playing for the top spot in the Mayflower Small. They were playing for a trip to the Super Bowl. But the varsity football team saw its postseason hopes diminish dramatically on Saturday after losing to perennial Mayflower Small champion West Bridgewater, 20-14.
The Whalers fell to 2-4 overall on the season and 0-1 as a new member of the Mayflower Small. The Wildcats, who have won four of the last five league titles, improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 at the top of the conference. Saturday marked the first time since 1974 that the Wildcats defeated the Whalers in football.
“We knew this would be a key game and I felt that our kids had a good chance to win the game, especially after the big win last week (against North Shore). However, you can’t turn it over three times and then drop passes which should have been caught and make mental mistakes,” head coach Vito Capizzo said.
With three fumbles on Saturday against West Bridgewater, the Whalers have committed 22 turnovers in six games this season. The third fumble of the game in the third quarter led to the eventual game-deciding touchdown.
“We don’t fumble at practice. We don’t drop the ball at practice. We get in the ball game and I think what happens is the frustration or the emotional factors become a problem,” Capizzo said. “I still think we have the talent to win, but we have to put the puzzle together. I think we have to do a better job as a staff, but the staff cannot play the game. The kids have to execute.”
The Whalers will play on their home field for the first time in four weeks Saturday when they face Mayflower Small opponent Holbrook.
Last Saturday, after playing to an 8-8 tie at the half, the Wildcats scored twice in the third quarter to open up a 20-8 lead. The Whalers fought back with a 65-yard touchdown drive to cut the deficit to 20-14, and with 2:25 left on the clock, set up for the two-minute drill from their own 30-yard line. The offense moved the ball to a first-and-10 on the 13-yard line with 26 seconds on the clock, but could not connect in the end zone for the go-ahead score.
Quarterback Geddes Paulsen connected for nine passes on 17 attempts for 102 yards and one touchdown. Andriquez Farmer hauled in four catches for 62 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Delroy Lawrence made two catches for 35 yards, while Mark Dwyer and Tomas Smaliorius also caught passes for the Whalers.
The offensive line, which catapulted the Whalers’ running game to success last week against North Shore, did not block as well against West Bridgewater, Capizzo said. John O’Mara had nine carries and picked up 41 yards and his first touchdown of the season on a two-yard rush in the first quarter. Paulsen ran the ball 11 times for 57 yards and Dwyer picked up 59 yards on nine carries, but fumbled the ball twice.
For the Wildcats, quarterback Matt Nunes connected on only three of nine passing attempts, but totaled 149 yards, including two touchdowns of 82 and 59 yards apiece. Jose Gurley caught both touchdown passes, amassing 141 yards. Also for West Bridgewater, Brian Flaherty led the running game with 52 yards on 10 carries.
“West Bridgewater executed very well and took advantage of all of our mental mistakes,” Capizzo said.
Running wild
The Whalers opened their first offensive possession right where they left off against North Shore the week before, moving the football. Nantucket drove 37 yards on nine plays to the Wildcats’ 16-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
Pinned back in their own territory, the Wildcats did not miss a beat. On the second play of their possession, Nunes connected with Gurley deep down the left sideline on a fade pattern, well past the Whalers’ closest defender. Gurley sprinted the rest of the way to score the 82-yard touchdown. The Wildcats then executed a fake-kick play, with a sweep to the right by Gurley to add the two-point conversion to lead 8-0.
Nantucket struck back quickly with a drive that ate more than seven minutes off the clock. Paulsen controlled the football with six rushes for 49 yards and passed to Farmer twice for 12 yards to set up the Whalers on the five-yard line. O’Mara did the rest with a two-yard rush and three-yard plunge off-tackle into the end zone for the touchdown. Paulsen then connected with Farmer for the game-tying two-point conversion.
But play got ugly at the end of the half for both teams. Dwyer coughed up the football at midfield, which was recovered by
the Wildcats. On the next play Nunes threw an interception to Blair Jannelle, but on the run-back Jannelle fumbled the ball back to the Wildcats. Nunes went deep to try to capitalize on the miscues, but the half ended with the score still tied 8-8.
The Wildcats controlled the third quarter. On their first possession of the half, West Bridgewater moved down-field on a 51-yard reverse by Greg Pigeon and a 19-yard dash from Flaherty. Matt Harris ran the final six yards into the end zone to put the Wildcats up 14-8.
The turnover woes then continued for the Whalers as Dwyer fumbled for the second time in the game. With the football and the momentum, Nunes hit a wide-open Gurley for a 59-yard strike into the end zone for another touchdown and the 20-8 advantage.
The Nantucket coaches challenged their team to rise to the occasion and fight their way back into the game. The Whalers took the football and promptly marched 65 yards, including a 28-yard pass from Paulsen to Farmer for the touchdown to cut the deficit to 20-14.
The Whalers took the ball back on offense with 2:25 remaining. After a halfback pass from Farmer to Dwyer fell to the turf, the Whalers responded with two completions from Paulsen to Lawrence for 15 and 20 yards apiece and another to Farmer for 22 yards. With time winding down and Paulsen spiking the ball to stop the clock, the Whalers were set up with a second-and-10 from the 13-yard line with 26 seconds remaining. Two passing attempts fell incomplete and on fourth down the Wildcats defensive line got to Paulsen for the sack as time ticked off the clock for another Whalers loss.
Dogfight
The Whalers will welcome Holbrook to the island on Saturday for their first home game since the comeback victory over Southeastern in mid-September. Nantucket will look to build toward a winning season as they move through the Mayflower Small schedule.
The Bulldogs are 3-2 overall with a 3-0 record in the Mayflower Small and are coming off a 26-21 victory over Tri-County last weekend. Holbrook has defeated Tri-County twice and Old Colony once, while losing to Trinity Catholic 25-14 and Cape Cod Tech 41-8. The Bulldogs are led by quarterback Josh Savoy, who leads the league with nine touchdown passes so far this season.
“They are more of a passing team. They average between 30 and 32 passes a game, so we have our work cut out in the secondary,” Capizzo said.
The Whalers will do some shuffling in the secondary against the Wildcats, keeping three players deep, including Paulsen and Josh Butler at the corners, with Josh Holdgate at safety to defend against the long pass play.
Reach Allison Goldsmith at sports@inkym.com |
