Noonan, Vikings Score Big Win As NEC Slate Begins

The football season is a long journey during which plays are called and successfully executed, and then sometimes there’s a hiatus before the play is dialed up again.

When senior quarterback Robert Noonan picked up four yards on a keeper for a key first down to seal a victory over Medway in Week 3, coach Jon Cadigan openly considered whether the Vikings should call Noonan’s number more often.

The Winthrop coaches went to another Noonan-run play against Danvers, and the captain turned it into a 38-yard scamper around left end in which he dove at the pylon for the touchdown. Noonan also had a quarterback sneak for a TD and a two-point conversion pass to Demetri Koutsouflakis as Winthrop defeated Danvers, 22-13, for a hard-fought, non-league victory as the NEC divisional schedule begins Friday at Gloucester.

“That [Noonan’s TD run] was the play that we were talking about last week,” said Coach Cadigan. “We had only been running it to the right and that was the first time we ran it left all year and it was a Rob Noonan 38-yard touchdown. We ran jet-motion that pulled a couple of their guys, and we just executed the play the way you draw it up.”

Fast Start for the Vikings

Winthrop (2-2) stormed out the door with a well-executed drive to take a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. Noonan’s pass to Nick Cappuccio for a first down deep in Danvers territory ultimately set up a quarterback sneak for a touchdown.

Winthrop made it 14-0 on the Noonan 38-yard TD and two-point conversion pass to Koutsouflakis. Cadigan addressed the dive-to-the-pylon maneuver by Noonan.

“I told Robert I that I love the effort, but you have to make sure that you hold on to the ball and you secure it,” related Cadigan. “If you fumble at the 1-yard line, it becomes a touchback. But Robert had two hands on the football, and you saw his desire to make a big play.”

Noonan’s leadership on the field and management of the Winthrop offense have been exemplary through the non-league portion of the schedule.

Danvers Rallies but Vikings Respond

The Falcons closed the gap to 14-7 at the half and 14-13 in the third quarter.

But the duo of Welvis Acosta and Nick Cappuccio soon extended the lead for Winthrop. Acosta, who seemed to be bouncing off tacklers and picking up extra yardage all game, had a 10-yard carry to the Winthrop 45-yard line for a first down. Cappuccio followed with 39-yard run down the sideline (during which he deked a Danvers defender) that ended with an illegal tackle preventing Cappuccio from scoring what should have been an electrifying touchdown. Acosta bounced off a tackler and scored from seven yards out to give Winthrop a 20-13 lead.

Following a timeout, the Winthrop coaches elected to go for two points and Cappuccio produced the conversion and 22-13 lead that made it a two-possession game.

Galuris Named Defensive Player of the Game

Junior cornerback George Galuris received the Winthrop Black Shirt Defensive Player of the Game award. Galuris was assigned to Danvers’ best wide receiver and received high marks from the Winthrop coaches for a couple of pivotal pass-breakups. Galuris also had a fourth-down pass reception in the second quarter.

“I think George is a terrific basketball player and being the cornerback, there are similar qualities to playing basketball, fighting for jump balls, and positioning and all that stuff. George did a great job covering their wide receiver all game.”

Defensive back Mark Johnson finished a strong effort by the secondary with an interception.

Ryan Harris and Michael Donahue  had important sacks. Donahue was the Vikings’ scout player of the week, acting as Danvers’ top linebacker on the scout defense.

Donovan Cassidy played his best defensive game of the season, according to Cadigan. Cassidy made a big, fourth-down stop early in the game.

Acosta Wins the One-on-One

Welvis Acosta had a huge defensive play in the fourth quarter when he raced across the field to tackle the Danvers quarterback in a classic, one-on-one open field play that ended the Falcons’ possession. Acosta had been assigned to cover the Danvers tight end, but he saw the quarterback rolling out and appeared to come out of nowhere to make the tackle.

“Welvis was the outside linebacker on the opposite side and he noticed the Danvers quarterback got outside of containment,” said Cadigan. “I figured the Danvers quarterback was going to get the first down, but Welvis made a beeline right to him and made a great open-field tackle to stop him from getting a first down – which was probably the biggest defensive play of the game.”

Phil Boncore Leads the Line

Sophomore Phil Boncore was the Vikings’ No. 1 lineman for the second week row, as determined statistically by the coaches’ grading system.

It’s great to see Boncore excelling as a three-sport varsity performer in the Vikings’ athletics program.

Cappuccio’s ‘9’ was Almost ‘99’

It will go on the stat sheet as a 9-yard gain, but if you look at the replay, you can determine that Nick Cappuccio came within one last-ditch Danvers tackle of scoring on a 99-yard touchdown in the game.

With the Vikings pinned at their own 1-yard line, Cappuccio took the handoff from Noonan in the end zone, neatly avoided a tackle at the goal line, and began to pick up steam before a Danvers player (who was getting blocked and falling to the turf), just managed to trip up Cappuccio.

“He’s 100 percent going 99 yards on that play,” said Jon Cadigan. “Nick knew it at the time – he was one guy away. Credit to the Danvers cornerback for making the play.”

Of course, a 99-yard run is a record that can only be tied but never eclipsed.

Acosta picked up a key first down on the next play to keep the ball in Winthrop’s possession.

A Trip to Gloucester

The Vikings, who are at No. 5 in the power rankings, will travel to the end of Route 128 for an NEC divisional matchup with Gloucester (1-3) at the newly refurbished Newell Stadium that was part of the “Newell Renewal” project.

It’s a challenging test for the Vikings who defeated Gloucester two years ago at Newell Stadium, which has the Annisquam River just beyond one of the end zones. (Gloucester fans like to cheer, “To The River” when the Fishermen offense is heading in that direction).

“It’s still a tough place to play and a tough place to win,” conceded Coach Cadigan. “ I look at our coaches – Chris Ferrara, Mark D’Ambrosio, James Fucillo, Nick McCarthy, and Frank Ambrosino – and we never won up there as players, and those are some pretty good players.”

A victory over the Fishermen would set up a major showdown against Peabody (4-0) next week, but Cadigan said the Vikings are not looking past Gloucester.