Sports Highlights

By Don Lyons - September 21, 2006

Five and counting

Antulio Neto scored twice and goalie Nico Cuba stopped each and every shot on goal by Old Rochester to net the Vineyard varsity boys soccer team's fourth win, 2-0, to go along with one tie, lengthening their unbeaten skein to five.

Bridge ends

Ann Funn and Claudia Bowser were the top north-south players at the Bridge Club of MV, Saturday. Clara Hargrave and William Blakesly were second, Cheryl Neal and Dorothea Arnold were third.

At east-west, Jocelyn and Duncan Walton took the gold. At place and show were Millie Hendeson and Gussie Jenkins, Charity Randolph and Gerry Jones.

It was the final Bridge Club of MV session until next summer.

Jayvees dump Carver

Six minutes and 41 seconds into the first quarter, the MV junior varsity football team put its first points on the board when QB Nick Billingham found Matt Costello in the end zone, capping a 60-yard drive.

The Islanders would score twice in the second period and add a couple of two-point conversions to reach the half-time break with a 22-0 lead.

The second half was like the first. Carver put the ball in play on their own 42. After three plays the Crusaders looked at a fourth and 18.

The punt went high but not long and MV took over on its own 47. Five plays later the score had risen to 28, then 30 to nil.

Coach Ryan Ruley substituted freely and Carver took advantage, scoring its only points of the game in the closing minute of the second quarter on two long runs by a 160-pound freshman, Tom Coyne.

The second half was scoreless and the final score was 30-6.

Ruley's Ruffians are 1-1. Their next date is Saturday, Sept. 30, at Pembroke.

Purple Power too much for Crusaders

The first half was all Vineyard.

A Matt Lucier punt stopped just shy of the end zone and Carver tried to run the ball from its two-foot line, but the Vineyard defensive line would have none of it and Bastille Lucier led the charge that dropped Brandon Holbrook in the end zone for a safety three minutes and 37 seconds into the contest.

Less than two minutes later, Alan Fortes, who did most of the team's heavy carrying, made it 8-0 and Zach Countinho, who was perfect on the day, kicked the PAT.

On the second play of the second quarter, Carver QB Jellison's pass was perfectly thrown, hitting the receiver between the numbers. But the receiver's numbers were 28 and they belonged to MV's Tyler Hathaway who accepted the gift and ran 80 yards for the Vineyard's second TD. Coutinho's kick made it 16-0.

Later, an 18-yard dash by Fortes plus a 5-yard face mask penalty put the Vineyard on Carver's 7 yard line from where Josh Paulson scored. Coutinho's kick gave the Islanders a 23-0 lead, the score at the half.

Midway through the third quarter, Carver showed unexpected elan. Wilson Wadlow returned Countinho's kick to the Carver 33. Jellison's pass to Steve Eldridge netted 24 yards. Jellison was tackled out of bounds, meriting a 15-yard penalty, and Carver was on the MV 12 from where Jellison passed to Eldridge for a touchdown. The two-point attempt was foiled but Carver was on the board.

In the closing minutes of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, Carver put together a 58-yard drive for a second touchdown which was answered immediately. In a game of long runs, the sweetest was David Amabile's 80-yard sprint. A touchback put the ball on the MV 20. On the first down, a hole was opened and David was through it before the Carver line realized he had the ball. He went untouched through the secondary. Then it was a footrace to pay dirt and no one on the field could match his speed.

With six minutes on the scoreboard, Jellison passed to Eldridge for six more Carver points and a point after was added to make it 37-19.

A Vineyard fumble was covered by Carver and five plays later Carver had scored again on a pass to Mike Frazier. Less than a minute after that, MV's Josh Paulson ran 52 yards, bouncing off would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone.

Coutinho's kick was good again for a final of MV 44, Carver 25.

The game demonstrated the previous week's lessons, that the Vineyard defensive line is very difficult to run against but the secondary is vulnerable to a passing offense.

The game was a milestone of sorts. It was the 150th win for a Vineyard football team coached by Donald Herman

Next game is here, 1 pm, Saturday, with Cathedral of Boston. The next three games are away at Pembroke, Middleboro, and Blue Hills.

Oregonian wins the NAACP 5K

Steven Moore, 28, of Washington, Oregon, won the fifth annual NAACP 5K road race, Saturday, in 18:25, almost a minute and a half faster than Paul Vertefeuille, 42, of Oak Bluffs, who was second at 19:52.

The race is run in memory of George V. Tankard of Oak Bluffs.

The other top ten finishers were: (3) Daniel Vaughn, 31, Edgartown, 20:28 (4) Roger Armstrong, 52, Edgartown, 20:31(5) Todd Cleland, 37, Oak Bluffs, 22:14 (6) Wayne Guyther, 49, Vineyard Haven, 22:57 (7) Miles Woodhouse, 38, Baltimore, Md., 24:35 (8) Jackie Burgoyne, 22, Vineyard Haven, (the first female to finish) in 26:28 (9) Carlton Pickron, 49, Amherst, 26:29 (10) Robert Sternberg, 40, Tyngsboro, 26:59.

The second and third female runners were Heather McGee, 33, of West Somerville in 27:16, and Brenda Gerosa-Bea, 55, of Hingham in 27:49. They were 11th and 12th overall.

Forty-eight racers completed the run, a 65 percent increase over last year. The youngest entrant was 10-year-old Alexandra Robinson of New Bedford. Sixty-nine-year-old Marcie Know of Wilmington, Del., was the senior runner. Alexandra finished 19th in 36:56. Marcie was 26th in 43:20.

Girls crunch New Bedford

The girls varsity soccer team lowered the boom on Greater New Bedford Voke in the Whaling City, Monday, 8-0. Caetlyn Hutchins and Erin Morris scored the first goals in their high school careers. Both Rachel Shubert and Alexia Schroeder scored twice. Goals by Nica Sylvia and Alice Hopkins made it eight.

Julie Perry pitched the shutout - her first.

Saturday, the Islanders played with verve and vigor but Old Rochester had its passing game working well and outscored them, 3-1. MV scored off a corner kick by Rachel Schubert which Alexia Schroeder nudged into the net in a crowd.

The varsity girls record is 2-3.

The MV girls junior varsity also bowed to the visitors from Mattapoisett, 4-0.

6th Arnold Brown

Twelve teams competed in the 6th annual Arnold Brown high school regatta here, Sunday. It was a warm day with clear skies and light variable winds from the east and ENE.

Boats were placed in two divisions, 12 to a division, and each school sailed in both divisions. Four races were sailed in each division. MVRHS entered two teams.

The Naval Academy Prep School finished in first place with a total of 26 points. Second was North Kingston, R.I., with 33. Then came (3) Duxbury, 36, (4) Tabor Academy, 46, (5) Northern Vermont, 46, (6) MVRHS #1, 47, (7) Marblehead, 51, (8) Providence Country Day, 52, (9) Xavier, 53 (10) Barnstable, 69, (11) Nantucket, 77, (12) MVRHS #2, 88.

The Naval Academy Prep School will have its name engraved on the perpetual Arnold Brown trophy along with past regatta winners - Martha's Vineyard and Xavier.

The Martha's Vineyard number one team qualified for the Great Oakes Regatta. The Vineyard sailors were Travis Ritchie, Andrew Burr, Tim Klein, and Jeff Craig.

Sam's the man

Sam Griswold of Lamberts Cove, now a junior at Wesleyan Univ. in Middletown, Conn., figured in both of the Cardinals goals in their 2-1 defeat of traditional rival Trinity College of Hartford, Saturday.

Sam assisted on the first Wesleyan goal putting the ball on the toe of teammate Morgan Owen 22 yards out, then Sam floated the ball over the Trinity defense into an open net for the winner.

On Tuesday in Medford, Sam set up Wesleyan's second goal with eight minutes left in another 2-1 victory, this one over Tufts.

During the summer past Sam played softball on the Highlanders and soccer with the Sports Haven team.

Golf

The home course did not help the Vineyard golf team enough to withstand the onslaught of Dighton Rehoboth at Farm Neck, and the Falcons won the debate, 33.5 to 20.5. Tony Grillo halved his match in the first flight, Henry Smith won his in the second. Tony Grillo's was the medalist round, a one under par 34.

Tuesday, Bourne topped the Vineyarders at Pocasset's par 36 course, 36-18. Tony Grillo had the medalist round of 33. Grillo won his first flight match, 6.5-2.5 but all the other matches went to Bourne, which improved to 9-1 on the season. MV is 2-4.

Coed football

When the athletic schedules were put up on the web one item especially caught my eye: a Coed Junior Varsity Football game with Blue Hills Regional on Monday, October 16. Something new under the sun - a coed football game !

It turns out that Blue Hills has a girl who kicks points after touchdowns. That is the extent of the coeducation.

Gymnastic update

Vineyard gymnasts who participated in the 15th Talent Opportunity Program for young female gymnasts at East Greenwich, R.I., during the summer included Sarah Pertile, Hadley Chapman, Julia Mazanski, Emma Caron, and Macayah Goodell. All of the Island gymnasts scored at the bronze level, 20 to 60%. A score of 95% was needed to qualify for the gold level.

Testing for boys is slated for Oct. 15. Nine-year-old Wayman Harrison is the only MV boy qualified to compete.

The 19th Pat West gaff-rigged schooner race

The 15-knot winds forecast for the19th Pat West Gaff Rigged Schooner race, Saturday, never showed up. Instead, the fleet had to make do with northerly breezes of 3 to 5 knots. Planned as a race to Tarpaulin Cove and return, the race was shortened to finish at the Cove.

Seven boats completed the abbreviated course within the allotted time.

First to finish was Lee Scarbrough in his 42-foot green ketch, Pegasus, in 3:10, corrected to 3:01:41.

Second was Rob Doyle in the Gannon and Benjamin yawl, Hope, in 3:21, corrected to 3:05:53

Bobbie Crosby was third in the sloop Celeste at 3:24 (3:15:39) and fourth was the catboat Julia Lee owned by Woody Bowman in 3:34:59 (3:19:29).

The 5th, 6th, and 7th were schooners: Valora, Phra Luang, and Malabar II sailed by L. Yoder, Jeff Robinson, and Jim Lobdell.

Also sailed but did not finish in the alotted time were the gaff-rigged Estrela, Pax, Bella, Chantey, Rosalie, Lucena B, and Welwyn.