By Cary Shuman
Gloucester High School rolled into Miller Field averaging close to 30 points per game and the owners of a glitzy 6-1 record with signature wins over Bishop Fenwick, St. Mary’s, and Beverly.
But in an excellently devised defensive game plan, the Winthrop High Vikings held the Fishermen to one score and left Miller Field at Coach Bob DeFelice Stadium with a hard-fought 7-6 victory.
The dramatic win, which came down to a Sean Dolen tackle of a Gloucester player at the 1-yard line on a Hail Mary pass, propelled Winthrop on to the Division 6 state playoffs against Stoneham Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Stoneham’s brand-new field.
Winthrop’s lone touchdown came on senior captain Sean Dolen’s 77-yard return of the opening kickoff of the second half. Dolen was also the Vikings’ Black Shirt defensive player of the game. (see related story).
“It was a great win,” said head coach Jon Cadigan. “We had a game plan going in, and the kids played lights-out on defense.”
The Winthrop defense rules
In addition to Sean Dolen’s award-producing effort, Coach Cadigan also singled out linebacker Seth Sacco (“He was tremendous as usual”), lineman Jeremy Pena ( (“I thought he played his best game”), and Chris Messina (“A big-time effort”). Pena had a huge sack of the quarterback late in the game.
Also drawing praise from the coach was center and captain Roy Konopaska, who entered the game in the second half and excelled on defense. It was Konopaska who made the key stop on Gloucester’s fourth down, quarterback sneak play.
All-Star effort
Winthrop’s Nick Romano continued his NEC All-Star caliber season.
“He’s a steady football player and just a physical presence,” said Cadigan. “There were a couple of plays where Gloucester drew it up the way they wanted to, and Nick just took on his block, threw the blocker out of the way and made the tackle.”
Previte Island
It was late in the first half and Gloucester was driving for what would have been the crucial first score.
Gloucester quarterback Jaylen Severino scrambled and appeared to have a path to the end zone. Only defensive back Nathan Previte stood in the way of the end zone and six points. Previte made an excellent one-on-one tackle to prevent the score. One play later, the first-half clock ran out on the Fishermen, who had used up their three time-outs in the half.
Michael D’Ambrosio also made some pivotal tackles at safety. Cadigan offered that it was rising star D’Ambrosio’s “best performance of the season.”
“Both of those kids [Previte and D’Ambrosio] are fearless and they will throw their bodies around,” said Cadigan. “Nate did a great job all game, especially that one-on-one play.”
Defensive coordinator Mark D’Ambrosio received an A-plus for “a total defensive effort.”
Not to be lost in all the defensive excellence, placekicker Dom Spinale booted the key PAT that ultimately stood up as the game-winning point. Gloucester was unsuccessful in a two-point conversion attempt following its touchdown.
Gloucester coach’s
comments
Head football coach Dan O’Connor said about Winthrop’s defense that held his team to one score, “They play sound defense. Winthrop has a very similar offense to ours, so Coach Cadigan knows the nuances of the Wing-T. They have an understanding of the offense, and what works defensively.”
Stoneham is a familiar foe
Winthrop and Stoneham have one of the best rivalries in the division.
“We can’t seem to avoid them – we’re always on a collision course,” said Jon Cadigan, who has scheduled the Spartans in the past few regular seasons. “I know we’re battle tested, but they’re battle-tested, too. They’ve been in a lot of close games this year.”
Stoneham is predominately a running team. “They’re 93-percent run, 7-percent pass, so they’re going to run the ball. They run the same offense as we do, so we’re very familiar with them, and they’ll be familiar with us.”