After quarterback Matt Noonan engineered a 72-yard drive on the game’s first possession that culminated with All-Scholastic Nick Cappuccio’s 27-yard touchdown run, everything looked optimistic for the Winthrop High School football team.
“That was as impressive a drive as we’ve had this season and even in our previous couple of seasons considering the quality of our opponent,” said head coach Jon Cadigan in an interview this week.
But the visitors from Shawsheen Valley Tech of Billerica quickly seized the momentum with a scoring drive and two two other first-half touchdowns.
The undefeated Rams would ultimately tally four unanswered touchdowns and leave Miller Field with a 28-6 victory over the Vikings Friday night.
A combination of injuries to two key starters, Phil Boncore and Nick Romano, and the Shawsheen defense’s control of the line of scrimmage were key factors in the game’s turnaround.
“Shawsheen really took the momentum away with their first drive [for a touchdown],” said Jon Cadigan. “I think they really out-toughed us and bullied us, and that carried over to their defense and our offense. The momentum got away from us when they stopped us on a key play in the first half. We made our adjustments at halftime and played tougher in the second half, but we couldn’t get anything going substantially on offense.”
First Drive Success
The Vikings’ opening drive encompassed all the good things you want to see from your offense: an exceptional pass from Matt Noonan to Todd Sacco for 28 yards, powerful blocking by Nick Romano, Matt Reardon, Todd Sacco and others, and Cappuccio’s 27-yard display of speed around the corner for his fourth touchdown of the season.
Sacco returns the favor to Cappuccio
Seth Sacco, setting up at fullback, delivered the “block of the night” on Cappuccio’s touchdown run when he crunched a Shawsheen defender on the edge. Romano handled his assignment flawlessly on the play while Reardon was the lead blocker downfield.
Conversely, it was Cappuccio, on the previous play, who submitted a football version of a basketball pick-play on the Shawsheen linebacker to help spring Sacco after his “power-pass” reception and ensuing jaunt down the sidelines. One play later, Cappuccio made it a 6-0 game.
Gabe Grein is defensive player of the game
Senior captain Gabe Grein was the Vikings’ Black Shirt Defensive Player of the Game.
“Gabe has been one of our most consistent players,” said Coach Cadigan. “He also had the team’s highest blocking percentage, making him the highest-rated offensive lineman this week as well. He’s had a very good start to the season on both sides of the ball. He’s developing into an All-Star-caliber two-way lineman.”
Sophomore safety CJ Cifuni was singled out by Cadigan for making a couple of tackles.
Cadigan also noted that Matt Noonan moved to a new position on defense following the early-game injuries to two starters.
The good news is that Nick Romano (injured hand) has been cleared to return to the field this week. In fact, Romano was at practice Monday after his doctor’s appointment.
Boncore is also expected to be in the starting lineup Friday.
A tough non-league schedule
Jon Cadigan always schedules the toughest teams in the division, and this season is no exception. Stoneham (2-0) and Shawsheen (3-0) are undefeated while Northeast (1-1) came to Winthrop having defeated Pentucket in its opener.
Shawsheen’s program is on a roll right now. They have the two-time CAC Most Valuable Player in Sidney Tildsley and are two-time defending CAC champion. Shawsheen is a 1,300-student regional vocational school that draws students from five communities: Billerica, Bedford, Burlington, Tewksbury, and Wilmington.
The MaxPreps poll has Shawsheen ranked No. 17 in Massachusetts.
Winthrop hosts Danvers Friday night at Miller Field. Danvers’ run-focused offense is similar in nature to Stoneham, according to Cadigan.
“Danvers is going to be a really tough challenge for us because of the all physicality,” said the head coach.