By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
Trailing Holbrook 32-0 in the third quarter and in danger of suffering their third shutout of the season, the Whalers kicked it into a higher gear.
Nantucket put 15 points on the board in the fourth quarter and held the Bulldogs to only seven plays on offense, but it was much too little too late.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Hunter Day cuts through the Holbrook defensive line late in the fourth quarter. The Whalers put up 15 points in the final 10 minutes, but fell at the Bulldogs’ home field 32-15 last Saturday afternoon. |
Despite posting its highest offensive point total of the season with two touchdowns, the struggling squad dropped its fifth game of the season 32-15 and second straight Mayflower Small league game.
With continuing struggles on the lines and some team chemistry troubles, head coach Vito Capizzo is looking toward the future to try to salvage the Nantucket football program.
“What is really sad is that we have the talent, but they don’t believe in themselves and they don’t believe in the system. What I have to do is get them to believe in the system and believe in themselves, and that’s a major key,” he said. “We really have to go to ground level, working with the younger kids and look at the future.”
The young and usually outnumbered squad still has three games remaining against solid varsity programs with senior leadership in Mayflower Small foes Old Colony, Tri-County and Diman, and Mayflower Large archrival Martha’s Vineyard.
The Whalers will be back at home this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Old Colony. The Cougars are 2-4 this season with losses to West Bridgewater, South Shore Voke, Holbrook and Tri-County. Old Colony has beaten North Shore and Diman, both at home.
“It depends who shows up. I think it would be nice to play at home and get a victory and have the kids believe in themselves before we hit the road again,” Capizzo said.
At Holbrook on its homecoming weekend, Chris Welch completed seven of 18 passing attempts for 100 yards and a touchdown. Eighty-one yards came in the fourth quarter alone. Hunter Day led the Whalers’ ground game with a season-high 85 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. He also pulled down two catches for a team-high 40 yards in the fourth quarter.
Nantucket fumbled the football three times, twice on kick-off returns, which helped the Bulldogs break open the big lead in the second and third quarters.
Holbrook quarterback Josh Savoy burned the Whalers’ secondary for 12 completions on 19 attempts, good for 163 yards and two touchdowns.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Senior co-captain Tomas Smaliorius takes down a Holbrook ball carrier late in the game on Saturday. The Bulldogs took a 32-0 lead on the Whalers before Nantucket scored 15 points in the fourth quarter. |
“I knew they had a passing attack. We scouted them twice. The kid can throw the ball. We had no pressure on him. We might have sacked him once. If you don’t put pressure on him, any quarterback is going to pick you apart,” Capizzo said.
The Bulldogs also had a decent running game, picking up 104 yards on the ground. Vlad Santine carried the ball 16 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns to lead Holbrook, which also connected on four-of-four two-point conversion attempts.
Neither team generated any offense in the first quarter as Nantucket punted twice and Holbrook turned the ball over on downs. But on their first possession of the second quarter, the Bulldogs broke through.
Mixing up the pass with a steady running game, Holbrook drove from their own seven-yard line in for the score, eating five minutes off the game clock.
Savoy hit Kevin DeSouza for the 29-yard diving catch down the left sideline. Savoy connected with Jessie Lopez for the two point conversion for the 8-0 lead.
Nantucket went four and out on the next possession and Holbrook took the ball and immediately scored on an 11-play, 73-yard drive to go up 16-0. The score held until the half.
“Our defense spent a lot of time on the field, but it’s the same kids and they get tired,” Capizzo said.
Holbrook put two more touchdowns on the board in the third quarter as they totally dominated ball control. Nantucket fumbled twice in the quarter.
DeSouza caught another pass from Savoy in the end zone for the first score and later in the quarter Santine scored his second rushing touchdown of the game.
In the fourth quarter, the Whalers’ offense started to move the football and the defense kicked into gear against Holbrook’s second team. Welch connected on two passes for 15 yards each to Josh Butler, but the drive stalled at the Bulldogs’ 17-yard line. The defense held Holbrook to four downs and took the punt at the Bulldogs’ 42-yard line.
Day took over, rushing four times for all 42 yards, including the final three up the middle into the end zone for the first score of the day. Following a 15-yard personal-foul penalty on the Whalers after the touchdown play, Welch hit Butler for the 17-and-a-half-yard two-point conversion.
Nantucket recovered two fumbles in the quarter. On the second miscue, Tomas Smaliorius recovered to hand the ball over to the offense at midfield with 39 seconds remaining. Welch hit Day twice for passes of 18 and 22 yards and a touchdown with time running off the clock. Butler hit the point after attempt as the Whalers put up 15 points in the quarter.
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