Martha’s Vineyard JV squad falls to Bishop Feehan, 22-0

The first home football matchup of the season found the Vineyard overmatched.

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Sophomore Ennis Foster runs past a Bishop Feehan defender. — Photo by Michael Cummo

The first home football game of the Martha’s Vineyard season ended Monday afternoon with a disappointing 22-0 defeat at the hands of a strong Bishop Feehan squad. Despite the defeat, the Junior Varsity boys made a solid defensive showing.

With only 20 boys in uniform to Bishop Feehan’s 41, the Vineyarders faced an uphill battle. They started strong, though, and the MV defense had a “bend but not break” attitude, giving up some yardage but eventually making a fourth-down stand and getting the ball back.

With 2:50 left in the first quarter, MV muffed a fourth-down punt attempt and fell on the football at their own 9-yard line, giving the Shamrocks great field position. Freshman Curtis Fournier had something to say about that, though. On fourth down, he batted down a Bishop Feehan pass at the line of scrimmage, causing the Vineyard bench to erupt.

It was a brief surge. The Vineyarder offense stalled, and at halftime the boys were down 6-0 after a touchdown and failed conversion early in the second quarter. During the opening drive of the second half, MV quarterback Sam Bresnik had a nice nine-yard run, but it could not save the drive. The Vineyard offense was focused on executing option plays, most of which were runs. But the Shamrocks defense stacked the box, making it hard to find running room.

With six minutes left of the third quarter, Bishop Feehan scored again on a screen pass, and after the two-point conversion left the Vineyarders trailing 14-0.

Freshman Zach Moreis had a good day on the ground, putting together several solid running plays. But that was not enough to make up for costly turnovers. With 3:20 left in the third quarter, a fourth-down punt was again muffed, and even though Martha’s Vineyard fell on the loose ball, a turnover on downs gave Bishop Feehan field position in the red zone. After a seven-yard TD run, MV was down 22-0 with just over a quarter remaining.

The boys did not give up, though. Their defense put together a solid effort culminating in a turnover; linebacker Wilson Redfield tipped a Feehan pass behind the line of scrimmage, falling on the loose ball, eliciting a raucous cheer from the fans and the bench alike.

To their credit, the junior varsity team never conceded the football game. They played hard, and made Bishop Feehan work to score. The next home game is 6 pm Friday, when the boys varsity team takes on Bishop Strang.