By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
Buoyed by an offense that was running on all cylinders for the first time this season, the Whalers football team picked up its first win of the year Saturday, defeating Old Colony at home 19-8.
Nantucket improved to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in the Mayflower Small. They will look to carry some momentum over into this Friday’s Homecoming game against Tri-County. Kick-off is set for 4 p.m.
“We needed a win big. Is there room for improvement? Yes, especially on special teams, but otherwise overall I was pleased with the running and the passing, and making that big goal-line stand on the three was a big plus and gave our kids some confidence,” head coach Vito Capizzo said.
“We finally got the monkey off our backs. We have been trying to put the right puzzle together, but it doesn’t work when you don’t have all the pieces. And finally we put the pieces together and the kids came to play as a team and that’s the whole key. They deserve to be congratulated.”
The win was a long time coming for the Nantucket squad, who had battled against tougher competition in the first half of the season. The combined record of the Whalers’ first five opponents this season apart from Old Colony is 27-9.
“That’s an indication of the competition we have been going against, but that’s no excuse. I have to take the blame. I didn’t do a good job putting the puzzle together, and after all these years, I should be able to put the puzzle together,” said Capizzo, now nine wins shy of 300 for his career.
On Saturday, the Whalers offense was clicking, as the line opened up running lanes for Hunter Day and the receivers were open deep for quarterback Chris Welch. Nantucket ran for a season-high 206 yards on the ground and picked up 147 yards through the air. They scored a season-high three touchdowns in the game.
Day doubled his season rushing total with 180 yards and one touchdown on 36 carries. The sophomore fullback single-handedly ran more plays and collected more yards from scrimmage than the entire Cougar offense.
“Every defense has a weakness and we felt we could run off-tackle all day and we did,” Capizzo said.
Welch connected on seven of 10 passing attempts for two touchdowns and 120 yards. Jamie Viera completed his first pass of the season for 27 yards to Welch, who was streaking down the sidelines on a perfectly executed fake-punt play.
Jordan Ferreira caught three passes, two for touchdowns, and 73 yards. Chris Getman also caught two balls for 25 yards.
The Old Colony offense ran only 23 plays for 62 yards, all of which came on the ground. The Cougars had only three first downs in the game and scored on a 75-yard kick-off return in the first quarter.
“The defense came alive. We have been giving up 30 points a game. This week we worked hard on them and finally the defense stayed up,” Capizzo said.
Winning ways
On their first possession, the Whalers drove inside the 10-yard line, but came away empty-handed, turning the ball over on downs after a fourth-and-two play from the nine-yard line.
The Cougars went a quick three-and-out from deep in their own territory and the Whalers took the ball back in good field position on the Old Colony 30-yard line.
Day took the bulk of the carries on the drive, including the final dash, six yards up the middle for the first touchdown of the game. Josh Butler converted the point-after attempt to give the Whalers the 7-0 lead.
The Whalers first lead of the season was short-lived. On the ensuing kick-off, Frank Pacheco picked up a fumble and ran 75 yards through the Nantucket special teams unit and into the end zone for the touchdown. Ryan Midwood rushed for the two-point conversion to give the Cougars the lead at 8-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Welch got into the action on the next drive as the Whalers were able to mix in the pass with Day’s effective running. The junior quarterback hit Getman for 12 yards and Ferreira for 10 yards and the go-ahead touchdown on a 46-yard drive. The two-point conversion fell incomplete, but the Whalers led 13-8.
Late in the second quarter, the Cougars pinned the Whalers at the four-yard line off a fake-punt play. Nantucket got out of the shadow of the end zone on a reverse play between Viera and Evan Hourihan for six yards and a connection between Welch and Hourihan for 17 yards. Ferreira caught the highlight of the day, making the catch in the open field, splitting the defenders and sprinting down the right sideline for 57 yards and the touchdown with no time remaining on the clock.
The Whalers went into the half with the 19-8 advantage.
The offense was able to eat significant chunks of time off the clock in the second half, but would not see the end zone again in the game. Instead it was the defense that took center stage.
The Cougars had their best opportunity of the day on the first possession of the second half. Kevin Sferrazza ran 33 yards to the Whalers one-yard line, setting up a first-and-goal situation. Old Colony only went backward from there as the Whalers stopped three rushing plays and one pass on fourth down to keep the Cougars off the board.
“You let them hang around and eventually they are going to bite you. The goal-line stand was big. It would have made it possibly 19-16 and that would have changed things around,” Capizzo said.
Tomas Smaliroius made his presence felt late in the game, swarming the ball and making the tackle on anyone and everyone who dared touch the ball.
“He has a sense of knowing where the ball is and you don’t teach that. Either you have it or you don’t. It is an instinct,” Capizzo said.
The Whalers assembled two drives over 10 plays each but could not put up any more points, turning the ball over once on an interception and allowing time to run out in the fourth quarter to end the game.
Home sweet home
The Whalers will look to carry some momentum over from last week as they host the Homecoming game Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. against Tri-County Voke.
“I am hoping the enthusiasm will carry on to Friday afternoon. Tri-County is a big regional school. They are something to contend with,” Capizzo said.
The Mayflower Small opponent is 2-5 overall this season with wins against Holbrook and Old Colony. The Cougars have lost to Blackstone Valley, West Bridgewater, Southeastern, Holbrook and Diman.
“Tri-County throws the ball all over the field. They are not a bad team,” Capizzo said. “There are no hot dogs and cake coming up, but this (win) gave the kids some confidence and that’s going to go a long way.”
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