Vikings falls to Tewksbury in season opener
By Cary Shuman
The Winthrop High School football team lost to 18th-ranked Tewksbury, 34-7, in the season opener last Friday night at the newly dedicated Miller Field at Coach Bob DeFelice Stadium.
There was a momentum-changing sequence late in the first half of the game between the two programs who last met in the 1981 Super Bowl won by Coach DeFelice’s undefeated Vikings.
After a 41-yard run by Winthrop captain Seth Sacco set up the Vikings inside the 5-yard line, quarterback Charlie Ferrara skillfully lofted a pass to Nick Romano for a touchdown, closing the gap to 14-6 with 1:04 left in the first half. The Vikings were guaranteed the first possession of the second half, so a game-tying TD and two-pointer became the goal.
But with many observers expecting Tewksbury to play conservatively and take its hard-fought, one-touchdown advantage into the break, sophomore quarterback Will Richardson led the Redmen on a quick-strike touchdown drive that included a key 40-yard completion.
Tewksbury held the Vikings’ offense in check in the second half to close out its non-league victory.
Tewksbury coach Brian Aylward assesses the game-turning TD
Brian Aylward, son of former Tewksbury head coach Bob Aylward, was asked by reporters about his team’s last-minute touchdown that increased the margin to 20-6 at the half.
“That whole drive was a critical drive,” said Aylward. “Having the momentum was good for us, and I think it was a little bit deflating for Winthrop. That was the big play of the game, for sure.” Tewksbury’s Will Richardson had two rushing touchdowns and one TD pass to senior Jonny Sullivan in his first varsity start.
“After that big play, I knew we were going to punch this in and change the momentum of the game,” said Richardson.
Winthrop head coach Jon Cadigan felt his team had regained the momentum on the Ferrara-to-Romano touchdown.
“We knew we were getting the ball at the start the second half,” said Cadigan. “We did a good job on first down, and then on second down, we had a communications breakdown, and unfortunately they hit a pass.”
Sacco was Winthrop’s leading rusher
Aylward was impressed by Winthrop’s Seth Sacco (7 carries, 51 yards) who nearly broke a run for a touchdown.
“That’s a big, strong kid who runs through arm-tackles, so I told our defensive players to have your whole body on him,” said Aylward. “Our guys were able to stay in their area and play good, disciplined defense, and I thought we did a good job of that in the second half.”
Sacco also registered Winthrop’s first fumble recovery of the season.
Credit to Dolen and Moccio
Coach Cadigan lauded senior captain Sean Dolen for his effort through four grueling quarters against a physical Tewksbury squad.
“Sean didn’t come off the field – he’s on all the special teams, he’s on offense and defense, and it was a hot night,” said Cadigan. “The same credit goes to two-way lineman Riley Moccio. Against a team like Tewksbury, who wears you down, Riley was in there every play for us.”
Call of the game
Charlie Ferrara’s touchdown pass to Nick Romano was a well-executed play from start to finish.
“That’s a good call by Coach [Alex] Smith, and Charlie and Nick did a great job,” said Cadigan. “There was a blitzing linebacker on that play, and Sean Dolen picked him up and made the block. It gave Charlie that extra second to throw the ball.”
Sean Dolen, Riley Moccio, Chris Beshere, and Chris Messina were the main blockers on Sacco’s big 41-yard run. Messina, the backside tackle, sprinted across the field to make what Cadigan termed “a touchdown block.”
“They call it a touchdown block, because he’s [Messina] usually the guy who picks off the cornerback, and that’s exactly what he did to spring Seth down the sidelines. That’s a great effort play by Chris.”
Punting game in high gear
Sophomore punter Dom Farrell had a big game with six punts averaging more than 40 yards.
“He changed field position and really was a bright spot for us,” said Cadigan.
Romano receives Black Shirt Award
Senior middle linebacker Nick Roman was selected the Black Shirt Defensive Player of the Game.
A starting tight end last season, Romano made his debut at running back versus Tewksbury.
Also of note, Romano blocked two of the Tewksbury’s PAT kicks. “That hasn’t happened in a while,” said Cadigan.
A big hello to
Mrs. Spinale
On the way into the stadium, we spoke with the personable Roseann Spinale, who was distributing game rosters to the media and fans at the reception table. She was wearing a Viking button with No. 7 on it.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” said Mrs. Spinale, about her grandson, Dom Spinale, the Vikings’ placekicker, and her granddaughter, Isabella Reardon, a captain of the Winthrop cheerleading team.
Next up is Northeast Regional
Winthrop will play a rare Saturday morning (10:30) game against Coach Donald Heres’ Golden Knights at in Wakefield.
Northeast lost to Pentucket Regional, 26-22, in its season opener.
MISC
All MBTA modes free after 9 p.m. for five Fridays and Saturdays to mark start of extended service
Special to the Transcript
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) announced last month that, effective August 24 as part of Fall 2025 service changes, all subway lines and eight frequent bus routes will offer extended service on Fridays and Saturdays with five of the MBTA’s most frequent bus routes with the highest number of later riders offering extended service every day of the week. Trip end times for these lines and routes will be about one hour later compared to current service end times. Extended service will also be added on some ferry lines on Fridays and Saturdays through the end of September with additional trips added.
To encourage riders to take advantage of the extended service, all subway lines, bus routes, ferries, Commuter Rail lines, and the RIDE trips will be free on Fridays and Saturdays beginning at 9 PM through the end of service September 5 – 6, September 12 – 13, September 19 – 20, September 26 – 27, and October 3 – 4.
Weekend Extended Service
• Subway: Service for the Red, Orange, Blue, and Green lines will be extended by about one hour on Friday and Saturday nights. Frequency during the one-hour of extended service will be about every 30 minutes on the Ashmont and Braintree branches of the Red Line and each of the Green Line branches, and about every 15 minutes between Alewife and JFK/UMass on the Red Line, on the entire Orange Line, and on the entire Blue Line.
• Bus: Service on Bus Routes 1, 22, 39, 66, 110, SL1, SL3, and SL5 will extend by about one hour on Friday and Saturday nights. Frequency during the one-hour of extended service will be approximately every 30 minutes.
• Ferries: Service for some ferry lines will extend by one to two hours with additional trips on Fridays and Saturdays beginning Friday, August 29, through Saturday, September 27:
• On Fridays: Hingham/Hull Ferry: An additional Hingham/Hull Ferry roundtrip will be added to the schedule departing about one hour later than current schedules. This trip departs Hingham to Long Wharf at 10:15 PM; the trip departs Long Wharf to Hull and Hingham at 11 PM.
• The current last departure from Hingham is at 9:15 PM with the last departure from Long Wharf at 9:55 PM.
• On Fridays and Saturdays: East Boston Ferry: Additional East Boston Ferry trips will be added to the schedule with service extended to 10 PM. The last trip from East Boston to Long Wharf will depart at 9:30 PM; the last trip from Long Wharf to East Boston will depart at 9:45 PM.
• The current last departure from East Boston on Fridays is at 7:30 PM and on Saturdays is at 8:30 PM with the last departure from Long Wharf on Fridays at 7:45 PM and on Saturdays is at 8:45 PM.
• On Fridays and Saturdays: Charlestown Ferry: Additional Charlestown Ferry trips will be added to the schedule with service extended to 10 PM. The last trip from Charleston to Long Wharf will depart at 9:30 PM; the last trip from Long Wharf to Charlestown will depart at 9:45 PM.
• The current last departure from Charlestown on Fridays is at 8:15 PM and on Saturdays is at 6:15 PM with the last departure from Long Wharf on Fridays at 8:00 PM and on Saturdays at 6:00 PM.
• Lynn, Winthrop, and Quincy Ferries: The last trip for these routes will remain as they are on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Updated Ferry schedules will be available soon at mbta.com/Ferry.
Daily Extended Service
• Bus: Service on Bus Routes 23, 28, 57, 111, and 116 will be extended by about one hour every day of the week. Frequency during the one-hour of extended service will be approximately every 30 minutes.
The current cost of the extended service on subway lines and bus routes for additional operations personnel hours is approximately $2 million.
Schedules for all lines and routes vary. Riders are strongly encouraged to check schedules in advance and use the MBTA’s Trip Planner as well as the MBTA Go app to plan their travels. Regular fares will be charged for all extended services. The MBTA previously announced additional Fall 2025 service adjustments. More information and detailed service schedules are available here.