A Wild Opening Game

We promised that the Winthrop High football team will be exciting and feature a high-powered offense, led by quarterback Dylan Driscoll, and the Vikings lived up to that billing with a tremendous, come-from-behind, 44-41 win over Saugus, capped off by Driscoll’s winning touchdown with 11 seconds left in the game.

It was a hot and humid afternoon on the Miller Field gridiron, but the Vikings showed their character and refused to call it a day even in the face of a 21-point deficit. There have been many great games played in Viking history and last Saturday’s wild one will find a spot on that list.

The Vikings are off this week and return next week against Swampscott, a real rival on the schedule. Just ask former coach Tony Fucillo about the game at Blocksidge Field when he graciously pulled all of his first-stringers — including the great Anthony Palmer — and Swampscott proceeded to try two onside kicks in a row. But we’re not going dwell on that two decades later — are we?

But any time Winthrop plays Swampscott on the gridiron — from Stan Bondelevitch to Bill Bush to Steve Dembowski to Bob DeFelice, Tony Fucillo, and Sean Driscoll — it’s a highly competitive game.